After graduating college my wife Rachel and I ended up moving to Chicago in 2002.  Rachel was working in advertising and I was working for a technology company doing sales.  After three years Rachel moved out of the advertising world and found herself working for a ministry in the city called Caris.  I on the other hand, wasn’t looking to move into ministry and was content working in business.  Today I find myself working in ministry.  So what got me here?

 In life you can look back and see God working through different ways in many circumstances.  Often you don’t necessarily know that He’s preparing you for something through all the life experiences He brings you until the opportunity comes to take a step of faith and trust in Him.  For me, there was about 4 years of spiritual growth that took place before it made since to make a transition from sales into ministry.  In my life it ended up being that ministry started to outweigh other things that I was doing and the transition to leave sales in August of 2007 and serve in full time ministry ended up being easy to make.  Looking back I can see how God prepared me to be here at New Life.

 My role on staff is primarily assimilation (connection with guests), mobilization, outreach and at our Lincoln Park location I also function as a Worship Venue Leader.  It’s been an exciting year as we’ve continued to grow as a church and serve in our community.  When Rachel and I first came to New Life we were challenged to grow spiritually.  I still hear people saying that they felt the Sunday messages were made for them.  I want to also invite you to come experience a church that is relevant, real, challenging and Christ centered.  We’re a place where real people with real issues come together to experience a real God that cares about us.  Yup, God cares about you.  We’re a place that believes that.

In 1994, I moved to Chicago to attend graduate school.  My plan was to be here for 2 years with the possibility of going oversees or moving back to Tennessee. Now it is 14 years later and I am still in Chicago.  Who knew? 

When I first arrived, I looked at this city and thought, “How in the world am I going to make friends here?”  It seemed like it was going to be an impossible task to get to know people. I did not know a soul in this city and I didn’t know my way around. I mean, Chicago is huge compared to my hometown in TN.  Yet, I am amazed at how many people I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know in the past 14 years, as well as experience what the city has to offer. 

Looking back at when I first came here with my 2-year plan, I would have never thought that the plan would change and evolve into me working for a church and continue to live in Chicago. The biggest and most pleasant surprise is that I would have never dreamed that I would have so many people in my life that mean so much to me. It has been my privilege to attend several churches here in Chicago and have been richly blessed by them. Yet, New Life Community Church has become something more.  It is not only a place where I worship and work; New Life has become a group of people that has developed into my family. 

During my years here in Chicago I have changed jobs, addresses, and my place of worship many times. However, I have never had the desire to change my city fromChicago to somewhere else (well maybe when it is 30 below).  Chicago has been my home for 14 years and New Life Community Church has been a part of my life for 7 of those years. Both have become a place filled with family and friends, a place for me to experience community in a way I never could have if I had stuck to my 2 year plan instead of God’s.  Who knew?