Passages: II Samuel 11: 1-17, 26-12: 9; John 8: 1-11a

Rev. Weidler is a United Church of Christ minister. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1975, studied in Europe, then attended Union Theological Seminary, receiving his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1981. Richard served First Congregational Church in Laurel Park for ten years, retiring last April, and previously served churches in Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

A church pastor for over 30 years, Richard also served as a hospital chaplain for a Level I Trauma hospital in Richmond, VA. Mid-career he left parish ministry and, after a year-long internship, was appointed Director of Planning for a large UCC-affiliated Senior Housing and Long-Term Care Corporation in Allentown, PA. While in that position he earned his Nursing Home Administrator license from the State of Pennsylvania.

Richard always had a warm place in his heart for the “underdog”; his compassionate heart led him into the ministry and empowered him to stand with the marginalized and speak out against injustice. He often put “legs on his words” and is most proud of being one of the first Henderson County residents arrested on Moral Mondays in Raleigh.