August 15, 2011

Bottom of the 9th

Yesterday was my 9yr anniversary (which is sort of a long time) of being on staff at Castleton UMC here in Indianapolis so I thought I would take a quick look back.

In my 9yrs at the church, God has allowed me to:

-move my office at least 5x
-lead mission trips to: Dallas, TX; New York, NY (2x); Obion, TN; Frakes, KY (4x); Marion, VA; Hayesville, NC; Baldwin, LA; Grand Rapids, MI; Quito, Ecuador (5x); San Andres, Guatemala
-see at least 8 individuals pursue full-time ministry
-work under 1 senior pastor the entire time
-be a part of becoming a multi-site church and lead the Sunrise Campus (our 2nd site)
-hold 3 different positions on staff: Director of Student Ministries, Director of Young Adult Ministries, Pastor of Family Ministries & Sunrise Campus (associate pastor under appointment since Nov. '08)
-witness the building of a new sanctuary
-witness our church reach the community in countless ways
-go from being "undecided" about the UMC to being "in process"
-start and nearly complete my Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary (2012 graduation)
-launch a new Saturday evening contemporary service called "Renovate"
-say, "I'm sorry" and "my bad" plenty of times
-be blessed to be able to say "thanks" quite a bit as well
-change, and hopefully mature in my ministry and thank CUMC for putting up with me as I continue to grow

It's crazy to think how long 9yrs is and how fast they went by. I am excited to see what God has in store for this 10th year of ministry and beyond. Thanks for joining me as we journey together.