Greetings from Wilmington, Delaware! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to you and the members of Anamosa First Congregational Church. I have been very excited by what I have learned about this church over the past few months and look forward to meeting you all personally when Lily and I arrive.
To tell you a little bit about myself, I am a native Midwesterner born in Nebraska and raised in Iowa. After graduating from Creston High School, I began college at Central Missouri State University before transferring to and graduating from the University of Iowa. Immediately after college, I taught for 2 years: fourth grade special education in Creston and English as a second language in Osaka, Japan.
After teaching in Japan, I enrolled in Dubuque Theological Seminary and served as student pastor at churches in New Sharon, Andrew and Ottumwa, IA. In order to gain experience in a larger congregation I took an internship in Elkton, MD during my last semester of seminary. After graduating, I served a year as an associate pastor in a church in Newark, DE. During that year, I met my wife Lily (a PhD candidate in history at the University of Delaware). Currently, I am doing homeless ministry in Wilmington, DE at Friendship House, the position to which I was ordained. At Friendship House we provide hospitality,transitional and emergency housing, job preparation, and drug and alcohol recovery. It has been overwhelming to see God's grace at work even in the darkest moments of my clients' lives. As much as I enjoy working with my clients at Friendship House, I have found that I deeply miss the worship opportunities provided by ministry in a local church setting.
What impresses me the most about your church is how seriously you take mission and outreach. With activities such as Angel Food Ministries, an active scholarship program, solid ecumenical ministries and the sponsorship of a child in India, First Congregational's commitment to service and involvement in the community is immediately obvious. It is also moving to see the way in which members of the church go out of the way to help each other grow in their Christian walk. I'm also excited by the commitment to Christian education you demonstrated by remodeling the parsonage for the new rotational model Sunday School.
After interviewing with and meeting the search committee face to face I have become convinced that this positive first impression was accurate. It is the high level of courage, faith, enthusiasm, and energy I have seen which makes me feel called to work with you as your next pastor. My own approach to ministry seems to fit well with the personality of Anamosa. In ministry, I seek first to help people experience the love of God. Then, I try to help others discover the talents that they have been given, and, finally, to live out the calling that Christ has for each one of us. This tends to lead to a collaborative approach to leadership, an emphasis on Christian education and service, and a desire for relevant and engaging preaching and worship. My sermons are very conversational and seek to help people engage with the Biblical texts in a way that will shape and inform their everyday lives.
As part of my desire to reach beyond the doors of the church I hope to spend some of my days off from Anamosa in part-time chaplaincy in the Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard. This ministry will be a part-time addition to my full-time commitment to First Congregational Church. While being largely invisible on a day-to-day basis it would still be a very tangible way for the congregation to help share the love and hope of the Gospel with the people who are serving our nation.
Despite all of the struggles that you have been through in the past several years, it is my earnest belief that God has amazing things planned for First Congregational Church. You have done, and are doing, some incredible ministries. You have continued to grow spiritually, both as individuals and a church. You are blessed with many faithful and talented saints and I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to walk with you through this exciting period in the life of your church.
