Former music teacher Darlene Ryniec says 'God called her' to be pastor at Harrison, Freeport churches

When the United Methodist Council tried to draw Darlene Ryniec out of retirement, the Buffalo Township pastor questioned whether she was up to it.

“I didn’t know if I could do it, but I love ministry and I was getting a boost every time they asked me to be a substitute preacher,” said Ryniec, who retired in 2015.

Ryniec decided she belonged behind the pulpit again. She took a dual post as leader of Grace United Methodist Church in Harrison and Freeport United Methodist Church on July 1.

Ryniec replaces Diane Curry Randolph, who had served as pastor of both sites since 2021.

“I hope it gets so busy that I can’t keep up,” she said, laughing. “It’s not been burdensome at all. That’s how I know it’s right.”

Preaching was a second career for Ryniec, a Cheswick native who graduated from Springdale High School and Muskingum College in Ohio. She worked as a music teacher at North Allegheny in the 1960s and ’70s, a career that she loved and hoped to return to after starting a family.

In the interim, she enrolled in an intense study initiative in the 1990s hosted by the United Methodist Council in Washington, D.C., and was ordained.

“I was asked to fill in one week at (Grace) United Methodist Church and, when I got in the pulpit, something felt right,” she said.

Her first official appointment, coincidentally, was as associate pastor at Grace United, the prominent red brick church at 1333 Freeport Road, recognizable for its tall steeple and stained-glass windows.

“It was a wonderful congregation and the church was thriving,” she said.

Since then, she’s served at Walter Chapel in Indiana Township and Millerstown United Methodist in Fawn.

Retirement, Ryniec said, “was OK, but I was sitting too much.”

“This has actually revitalized me.”

Ryniec said her passion is pastoral care, or as she describes it, showing love to people. Her sermons include many personal stories about how the Scriptures have worked in her life.

Dmitri Koval, music director at both churches, said he’s formed a quick partnership with Ryniec as he admires her interest in growing the congregation.

The pair established an interfaith community choir, Harmony of Hope, that invites people to share their talents.

A special musical guest performs at most services.

“I find (Ryniec) to be very thoughtful,” Koval said. “One thing I really like is that her sermons are practical. She weaves in messages like ‘Your thoughts matter.’ And she also has a children’s message even if there aren’t kids in attendance.”

Grace United celebrates service at 10 a.m. Sundays; Freeport United is immediately following at 11 a.m.

“I get great numbers in Freeport,” Ryniec said. “We get at least 25 people every week.”

Grace United is struggling a bit. In its heyday, the church boasted about 1,500 parishioners.

“I don’t know that I can bring back a whole bunch of people,” she said. “But God called me for this, so I am expecting great things.”