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Last July, the congregation of Leaksville United Methodist Church received two unique gifts. The Rev. Patrick Hamrick and his wife, the Rev. Laura Hamrick, were assigned to the church at 603 Henry St. Although the two are often referred to as co-pastors, Patrick is the full-time pastor, and Laura is an associate pastor. She works part time for the church and is a full-time mother to Dunn, an active 4-year-old.

Having two pastors serve at the same time is definitely new to Leaksville United Methodist Church. And how the attractive, dark-haired couple received their callings and met each other seems the stuff of fiction, but in their case, it’s all real.

Patrick grew up in a United Methodist Church in Kings Mountain.

Patrick says the town near the South Carolina border has many of the same characteristics as Eden. Both are struggling with serious unemployment caused by the loss of textiles, tobacco farming and the overall downturn of the economy.

He also senses the needs of the greater community beyond the church family — in the growing level of poverty and the loss of hopes and dreams in Rockingham County.

Patrick’s route to the ministry was as straight as an arrow, he says. A childhood and youth devoted to participation in all things available in his United Methodist church naturally led to his calling.

An undergraduate degree from Duke University and a degree from the Duke Divinity School helped seal his destiny as a Methodist minister.

Through special permission from Duke Divinity School, Patrick spent two years in Scotland as an associate in the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian).

When he returned home, he was assigned to two small churches in Oak Summit and Mount Pleasant. His life was about to change when Patrick was sent to Asbury United Methodist Church in 2002. He would soon meet Laura.

Laura grew up in Charlotte and is a graduate of Duke’s longtime rival, UNC-Chapel Hill.

She grew up in the Episcopal Church and worked in a group health insurance company in employee benefits for 14 years.

Her participation in a singles’ group at the large Myers Park United Methodist Church attracted her to the Methodist Church.

Unlike Patrick, who had a smooth transition in his call to ministry, Laura says she was “hit by a two by four upside the head” — an epiphany that turned her life around.

She had been deeply touched by her involvement with the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network in Charlotte.

Her calling led her to study at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and to the new life of a pastor in the United Methodist Church. Laura met Patrick in the spring of 2001 at Lake Junaluska Conference Center in the mountains of North Carolina. Laura tells the story of how a woman at the end of their pew thought she and Patrick were a couple and slipped them a note with an invitation to attend a reception at the home of one of the bishops afterward.

It wasn’t long before Patrick found his way to Washington and Wesley Seminary.

Their first date was in Washington at the funeral of Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham.

The beginning of the rest of the story takes Laura and Patrick to South Africa with a group of people from Duke and one of Patrick’s mentors, Peter Storey, on a Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope. They met with Bishop Tutu while on this trip and studied the efforts toward reconciliation there.

Before their appointment to Leaksville United, Patrick and Laura served together in Iredell County near Lake Norman.

During their first weeks in the new church, the Hamricks has spent time visiting members of the church who are too ill to attend services.

Both Hamricks love music, and Patrick has already played the piano during services and frequently sings with the choir.

Laura and Dunn are learning the territory in Eden. Patrick is often seen sharing lunch with them in area restaurants.

Although they love to travel, they say they prefer to be at home each night with Dunn and to continue family routines at this stage in their lives.

Fortunately for Laura and Patrick, they arrived in Eden after basketball season.

It will be interesting to see who gets bragging rights in the pulpit this year.

Rachel Wright is a native of Eden and a part-time instructor in basic skills at Rockingham Community College.