A New Adventure Begins

This weekend the leaders at North Way Christian Community announced that I'll be the campus pastor at the North Way East End campus which is scheduled to launch this fall. I am very excited about this amazing opportunity to be a part of what God is already doing in this part of the city of Pittsburgh. God has shown me some incredible things about urban ministry over the past five years, and I am going to learn much more over the years to come. I will still be living in Homewood (the church location is only about one mile from Homewood), and I will still be involved in LAMP leadership. The church is planning on bringing in some extra help with LAMP so that I can be freed up to focus my attention on the launch of the East End campus as well.

I have two big things that I'm focusing on right now. First, I want to try to make sure that I focus on the fact that God is in control and I am not. The Holy Spirit is already at work in the East End, and I am simply joining in his work there. I am focusing on being obedient to where ever it is that God calls me to go in the East End. Second, I am focusing on finishing strong in the Doctor of Ministry program that I'm in. I am writing my dissertation this year as I finish off a couple of my specialization classes. Research does require a lot of focus for me, and I am hoping that my project will be a gift to the Church. I believe very strongly in faith-based mentoring, and I would like to see high risk urban youth being mentored by Christians all over the Pittsburgh area, in the United States, and even around the world. My goal is for the dissertation to advance that cause.

I'm sure I'll be writing a lot about my transition to being a pastor and launching a church campus over the months and years to come. For now, I am simply humbled and thankful that God would call me to participate in such things. I can't wait to see what God is up to in all of this, because it is my biggest hope that he will be glorified by my small amount of time in this world. All glory and honor belongs to God.