Recently I visited a new church and was offered a new position with them in their family and ministry. That sums up the idea in one statement, but the story behind it is something altogether more exciting and amazing. Earlier this month, my wife wrote about it from her perspective on her blog. (You can read that HERE)
I loved how my wife described her journey of discovery with this whole process, but I wanted to share from my perspective as well. See, for me, when it comes to moving on to a new church, I am in search of adventure.
Over a year ago I sat in the office of the senior pastor at the church here in Kansas and he looked at me and asked what I wanted to do the rest of my ministry.
“Do you always want to be a worship pastor,” he asked me?
I looked at him and smiled knowing that he already knew the answer to that question. We proceeded over the next hour to discuss the direction I felt led. I had made worship the focus for over sixteen years and what I found was a love more for PEOPLE than anything else in the church. I wanted to do more with people. Don’t get me wrong, I love worship and I love music and will most likely always be involved with it wherever I am serving, but letting go of all the additional responsibility that comes with that position would free me up for so much more with the people.
As the meeting concluded, he told me to spend some time in prayer seeking exactly what I felt the Spirit was laying on my heart. In the process he told me to write down the perfect job description.
Over the next six months, I really put a focus on my prayer life to discover what it was that God desired from me at this point and what I felt that looked like. I was reminded constantly of Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” This would ring SO TRUE a little later down the line…
Now, being that I am currently serving in a specific denomination, I was approached by our disctrict superintendent and asked if I would consider licensing and MORE seminary to become a lead pastor and teacher for one of the district churches. Honestly, I didn’t feel led that way and I REALLY didn’t want to go spend the money to go BACK to seminary again after I had just completed a Masters degree at the seminary I had already been studying with. The problem with that within the licensing with the denomination is that the seminary I had attended was not affiliated with the denomination and so they would not accept it as credit toward my licensing.
At the conclusion of that six months, after much prayer, many discussions and processes, I sat down once again with the senior pastor.
I read to him my “perfect” job description and he smiled as I told him that there is no way that it actually existed. He told me he felt like what I had written was a great fit for me and that he was excited to see what God was going to do with that. He asked if I was ready to start searching for it and I told him yes.
I began sending out resumes and contacting churches all over the country. Orginally I was playing to my wife’s fears as I was looking in California, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Dakota and many other states, even as far as Pennsylvania. She was not real keen at that point on moving so far from our families who would still be in Kansas.
Over and over again, I got calls or emails. Some followed up, some I interviewed with twice and even some for multiple positions, but they all came back the same. NO GO! I tried not to let it get me down as I knew this was part of the adventure. I knew whatever God had was gonna be better than I could imagine. And at that time it was hard because I had been passed over for a couple places that I thought would be perfect.
Then, one afternoon, I began looking at the new postings on a website I had been using to search and clicked on the link. It was in Indiana. I had never really even considered that as a location. I began to read about the church and then I came to the job description and BAM like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t believe it. It was like they took what I had written down and shared with the senior pastor and re-created it on their job listing.
I ran to his office and looked at him and said, “It DOES exist!”
I emailed them that afternoon and sent my resume. I was really hoping to at least learn more and get to speak with someone.
It was a little while till I heard from them, but I did and they wanted to get more information and then would let me know about an interview after that. I sent them what they desired and low and behold I got an interview. We set up a skype time and game on!
The night before the first interview, I could not sleep. Something was really heavy on me. I sat in my basement just praying over and over again. I pulled up the website on the computer of this church and just began reading. I ended up covering the entire site from front to back. I even made some notes about some of the cool things that I liked about the church.
I realized at that point that I really needed to sleep so I went to bed. As I was laying down, all of sudden, loud and clear like a voice standing right next to me…
“GO TO __________!”
I sat up and out loud said, “but I haven’t even had an interview!” And again…
“GO TO __________!”
“Alright,” I said, “I get it!”
Here, with not even one interview, God knew exactly what he was doing.
The next day was the first skype interview. The funny thing is, we set it up for 2:00pm. Well, they were in Eastern Time in Indiana and I am in Central Time in Kansas. So, 2:00 for them meant 1:00 for me. I realized this at about 1:07pm my time. I RUSHED back to my office and desk to see that I had missed their skype call.
Great job Luke! Way to make an impression right at the start!
I called them back right away and explained while apologizing. Apparently they got over it real quick and I went from mortified to at peace pretty quick.
The call went great and I loved everything that we talked about. That night the lead pastor called me and asked if we could do a second interview with just him. He had some more he wanted to talk to me about. I was excited and said for sure.
Now, at this time, my wife is about 6 days from her due date with our daughter, so he told me to be patient and he would to and we would wait to see what happened with the baby and then set it up. Well, we had the baby that Sunday and he and I had the second interview the following Tuesday. It was a two and a half hour talk that was full of random stuff just getting to know one another.
My wife returned near the end of that call and spent a few minutes in coversation with us as well. She was there to hear the stats that the lead pastor shared with us regarding the interview process they had been going through with this position. It went like this:
70-80 applications and resumes came in and they spent several weeks narrowing that to 4 they wanted to talk to. When they set up the 4 interviews, myself and another guy were on top and the other two just below us. When the interviews were over, I was asked to keep going and the other three were told thanks but they were moving on with another.
Now, I don’t share that to boast at my accomplishment. I share because I want to boast in the AWESOME power and leading of my Jesus who so perfectly orchestrated what he wanted from me. Those numbers and that process still blow my mind. Out of all of that, God would choose to move me to the front. Only HE could do that. This is not me. 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
We got off that call and my wife began to cry. She looked at me and said she was scared but she knew after that call that we were going to be moving to Indiana. I felt the same way.
Later that week, the lead pastor called again to set up a third skype with the rest of the leadership team. We did and it was another great time of conversation that afterward led to a phone call from him asking when we could come visit.
The last weekend of May we spent time in Indiana and at the church. The minute we got there, God confirmed our place and his words to me clear back before that first interview ever happened. He had commanded this and we were ready and willing.
That weekend, they offered the position to me. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing the meeting with the board members was and how real and honest it was. They knew what they were offering was not where my wife and I had hoped to get to, but one of them said something that made all fear disperse…
He said, “When you get here, you are family and we will always take care of you.”
In the deepest depths of my heart, I felt peace and the truth of what he was sharing. The looks on the other two guys faces just confirmed this truth. The Spirit was alive in that room as we talked and it was a joyous occasion.
Following that meeting, we were taken to dinner with the staff and it was announced to cheers and applause that we had accepted and would be coming to Indiana.
I started this process more than a year ago, I went in search of adventure and found a refreshment – a thirst quenched by the living water who provides all things needed.
I will miss the people I have come to love here at the church in Kansas. At the same time what lies ahead is beyond exciting to the point of trying not to be anxious. We will begin our new adventure in August.
Only God could have perfected this the way he did. It is all because of him and for him.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
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