Rev. Rick Steele has joined Minot’s Congregational United Church of Christ as its pastor. An ordained minister in the UCC, Steele grew up in Chicago, attending a UCC church.

He was called to full-time ministry after a career in information technology, with AT&T, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. His wife, Ruth, retired after a career as a tax accountant.

The couple joke that, when Rick told her about God’s call, Ruth, who had hoped to retire to a Caribbean beach, said the call must have been a wrong number.

He and Ruth join the Minot church after serving two small churches in southeastern North Dakota. He had visited the Minot church several years ago for the Northern Plains UCC conference meeting, where he first heard the church’s choir, with its outsize talents for its small size. He and Ruth have two adult sons and three grandchildren.