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Feeling unsatisfied in retirement, Pastor Kringle started looking for a parish. When he heard that Calvary Baptist in Paynesville was searching for a minister, he answered their call and was hired.

Pastor Kringle started his ministry here on May 6. He and his wife, Dorothy, moved into town over the weekend.

"Our goal is to get to know the congregation. I hope to have a good ministry here and reach out to the community," Pastor Kringle said.

Calvary Baptist currently has an adult Bible study and a Wednesday night youth group but no Sunday school. Pastor Kringle hopes to expand the church's ministry to include a Sunday school in the fall.

He already has pioneered a Sunday school, in his first call in an Amery, Wis., church. "The church needs to reach out to young couples and children, minister to young and old alike," he said.

Born and raised on a dairy farm near Dallas, Wis., Pastor Kringle grew up in the Assembly of God Church and felt the calling to the ministry at the age of 12. "I directed all my thoughts to the ministry and never felt I did the wrong thing," he said. He graduated from North Central Bible College in Minneapolis and completed a two-year mission course at Northwestern College, also in Minneapolis.

He served in Assembly of God churches in Wisconsin and Minnesota for 15 years.. He later joined the Christian and Missionary Alliance and pastored for 30 years in South Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, and Minnesota.

Pastor Kringle had worked in Bridgton, Maine, for several years. He and his wife moved back to Minnesota two years ago to be closer to their children. Two live in Minneapolis, and two in Mountain Lake. "Paynesville is between the two communities," said Pastor Kringle.

The Kringles like Paynesville. They enjoy walking every day.