Please describe the characteristics of the church or organization you would like to serve, and the unique gifts, skills and experiences you would bring to the position:

I would like to serve a church that is actively seeking to embrace compassion, challenge, and celebration as they are found in living faithfully as Christian children of God. The compassion of Christian life is realized when a church community serves as a welcoming refuge for people who feel isolated, fearful, grieving, doubtful and forsaken. Compassion responds to these life situations with love and grace; offering living water to those who thirst. The challenge of Christian life is born of the radical and transformative message of Jesus Christ as taught to us through Scripture. We are each called to use our gifts and passions in service to Christ’s vision and this call often challenges us to seek out new ways of being and living in the world, in our communities, and in relationship with one another. The celebration of Christian life is evident when a community comes together for fellowship and worship. Together we celebrate the reality of God’s presence through Christ in our lives and in the world. To these ends, I offer my gifts. I am a skilled theologian and interpreter of scripture with a strong ability to articulate God’s message in ways that are relevant to our lives as individuals and as a community. My abilities and resources as a group leader and program coordinator will benefit the whole community as we seek to actively respond to the Gospel. As a worship leader, I offer my skill at facilitating creative and contemporary worship using multi-media technology as well as my ability to use and maintain the related audio, video, and computer equipment. Finally, my skills in spiritual practice, communication, and mediation enable me to provide pastoral care in times of struggle and to foster reconciliation in the midst of conflict.

Please describe your present call and accomplishments:

Over the past five years I have experienced my call to ministry within two remarkable experiences. The primary experience was that of attending Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Through the seminary experience, I was not only challenged to expand my understanding of scripture, church history, and pastoral ministry but I was also affirmed and recognized for my ability to interpret and apply our theology to relevant social issues and justice ministry. From within the arms of this community, I encountered my second experience of call. I have been an active participant leader at Covenant Community Church, a New Church Development of the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky. This is a church designed specifically to minister to young adults who have disengaged from a traditional church experience. CCC provided me with the opportunity to share in the creation and implementation of a meaningful, creative, and liturgical worship service and music ministry. For four years we have worked to develop and sustain a ministry of shalom that is lived out through small groups engaging in spiritual practice, community building, and social action.

Please describe your leadership style:

Through this I have learned and embraced a leadership style that is an organic one operating primarily on the principle of “authority at the point of gift”; a principle that recognizes the inherent giftedness of each person and encourages each person to utilize their gifts in the work of the church. As a leader of a congregation, I believe my role is to assist the community in discerning how they will respond to their calling and to provide resources and guidance in the implementation of their goals.

What are the key theological issues currently facing the church and society, and how do they shape your ministry?

Many of our churches today find themselves struggling to respond to a high-tech, war-torn, and increasingly fragmented world. I believe that one of the Church’s primary goals must be to remain a relevant and informative voice within our society as an advocate for the vision of God’s tables where all are welcome and will be fed. The ministry of Jesus Christ has been many things to many people and, at its heart, it was relevant to those people he encountered. He spoke to people from within the context of their lives and offered healing, hope, and meaning in the face of sickness, struggle, and confusion. The church can do no less. Throughout our Scriptures, we are shown a God that consistently calls to people from the very midst of their chaotic lives and empowers them to respond with peace, justice, wholeness and celebration. The church can do no less. The church is called to compassion, called to open itself to the experiences of the world and embrace her participants with love and forgiveness. The church is called to challenge, called to lead us toward a path of transformation as we seek out and embrace the presence of God in our lives and in our world. The church is called to celebration, called to share the hope of Christ that God’s love overcomes all separation and that God’s creative power will overcome even death. In my ministry I strive for a church that speaks to people’s lives and for a church that allows people’s lives to speak to it. As a minister, I do not feel called to provide answers but to provide a place that welcomes and encourages questions and to offer our faith as resource and a guide for finding a meaningful way to respond.