eighteen years in a nutshell

through a strange collision of circumstances, i finally tracked down a friend of mine from high school i had wondered about for years. seems we've wound up in similar places (teaching, vineyard church). so we exchanged quick summaries of our past eighteen years and i thought i'd share mine....

(yes, i know i haven't been blogging and this is lame space filler. but i'm not quite ready to come back yet).

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yes, ran off to mount vernon, spent four years making some great friends and doing lots of drama, some music, plenty of ministry and, oh yeah, getting my degree. graduated with a bachelor's in christian education, with minors in communications and psychology, all ready to take on the world as a youth pastor. but during my senior year, God made it clear i wasn't quite finished yet, so....

...off i went to kansas city to my denomination's seminary (nazarene theological seminary) and spent three years getting my masters of religious education and youth ministry certificate. more great friends, more drama, amazing barbeque, more ministry, leading to my first "real" job as a youth pastor....

....in lansing, michigan. technically i was "part time," which meant i worked full-time but only got paid part time wages and no benefits. good, small church with big dreams. most of my teens were unchurched, which i have to say i preferred to the complacent churched kids i ran across much of the time. church was a bit concerned about their rough edges, but as Christ pointed out, we're there for the sick, not the well. spent three and a half years up there, doing what God had called me to back when i was fifteen years old. then one november...

... i went to a youth worker's convention out in denver, colorado. while i was there, i found myself frustrated with the consumerism and flashiness of what was going on around me. i no longer felt these were "my people" and i ended up spending the majority of the time in the prayer room they had set up in one of the out of the way convention rooms. while i prayed, God began making it clear - i was no longer supposed to be in full-time, paid youth ministry. needless to say, it was a bit disconcerting to be told i had to stop doing what i'd spent 13 years preparing to do. but after much prayer and fasting, i knew what i had to do....

....so i resigned my position with absolutely no idea what i would be doing next. i moved back to dayton and lived with my parents for about three months while i prayed and listened to where God might lead next. took a couple of trips, followed a couple of rabbit trails of possibility (MFA, doctorate) and then i sat down and looked at what my passions were. teenagers. drama. literature. writing. and suddenly it became clear - i should become a teacher. so, since seven years of higher education wasn't enough, i jumped back in, this time at kent state, where i spent a year finishing prerequisites to enter their masters of arts in teaching program, a one year, intensive study designed for those going into education after spending time in the "real world." graduated from there a licensened teacher, exhausted, but ready to jump into teaching. not much came the summer after i graduated until i got a call from....

....mason high school, down near cincinnati. i didn't know much about it when they called, but when i started doing research, i found it was one of the top schools in the state. huge, too - 2500 students when i started just over three years ago. over 2800 now. i teach sophomore english, which means i basically prepare the students for the OGT. but i love teaching literature and love the opportunity to connect with the students. i'm involved in the drama program (not directing, but helping backstage) and advise the school's film club (which i started - yes, i am quite aware of the irony given my nazarene, no movies allowed background). but moving to cincy didn't just give me a new job...

....it gave me a new church. in a move i never could have imagined ten years ago, i left the nazarene church and am now involved in an amazing community in norwood, ohio. it, like yours, is part of the vineyard church, though it's unlike most other vineyards i've been to. we're a community of house churches that meet mostly in norwood and northside. many of the families (myself included) have moved into the neighborhood to be a part of the community and to be a presence here. we're an odd mix of vineyard style worship combined with episcopal-type liturgy. i lead a house church here in norwood - we meet in my house every tuesday night for a meal, worship, teaching, prayer, communion. it's an amazing context to serve in.
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Tunes: woxy holiday mixer (http://woxy.lala.com/holiday.php)