The Story

I was born at Wesley Long Hospital, grew up playing around the lake behind Dolley Madison Road and graduated from Western Guilford High School. I rode my skateboard, bicycle and go-cart all around Quaker Village. It was a play ground disguised as a shopping center.

Greensboro is home.

In 1995, a meaningful conversation with a Young Life leader at Your House Restaurant on Battleground Avenue ultimately led me to receive Christ into my life. From that point on, I had such wonderful spiritual mentors over the years. It just seems that God put men in my life all through out my life when I most needed them. My work today reflects the mentored life I’ve had over the years. I’m indebted to these many men that have poured into me.

One of those mentors was Mike Moses Sr. I was a new believer in my twenties, attending Appalachian State University and needed help overcoming residual effects from addictions and low self-esteem. Mike had just started a ministry called Grace Discipleship and so we met a few times when I was home from college. This was in the late 90s and a key time in my spiritual journey.

Mike mentored me towards a deeper understanding of God’s grace and union with Christ. What followed was the beginning of my journey of walking in newness of Spirit (Romans 6:1-16). Mike would say, “we must experience this reality of life but first we must know our brokenness.” We can’t but Christ in you can.

I remember meeting at his office on Lendew Street next to Sporttime in Greensboro. Those were some sweet memories.

A funny side-note, I can ride through present day Greensboro and pass a restaurant or park that was at some point a meeting place with a mentor. I love having these physical areas that hold spiritual meaning.

Another mentor-counselor, Steve Lynam and I have been going on walks in Fisher Park for years. That natural area downtown is holy ground and those paths we walked hold such significance for my spiritual growth.

Learning the grace of God and attending seminary was a great combination. The school I was attending had roots in the Keswick movement (early 1900s) from its founding president Robert C. Mcquilkin. Keswick theology birthed so many moments and influenced timeless writers like Andrew Murray, Oswald Chambers, Charles Trumball, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor and CT Studd to name a few. The message of victory in Christ and global missions came together at the early Keswick conventions. Andrew Murray is one particular author who has impacted me by his teaching on our union with Christ. I once read a story about how he sat with Amy Carmichael who was a worn out missionary at the time. She was deeply impacted by his words and understanding that Christ in us wants to live through us. I like those kinds of conversations!

In the summer of 2000, Emily and I both trained with a discipleship network called the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries. I trained under Tom Grady at the Atlanta office while Emily trained at the Nashville office under Dale Dunnewold. They wouldn’t allow pre-engaged couples to be at the same center so we had different experiences but were on the same page spiritually and theologically. To understand marriage union, you must understand spiritual union with Christ. To this day we hold valuable those teachings. It is one thing to know about union with Christ, it is another to experience.

Another mentor of ours who “walked out” union with Christ was Dale Dunnewold. Dale passed away a few years ago. He has such a gentle and had such a powerful way of helping people. I recall him saying: “God gives me pictures and I just share them with people.” I resonate with that. In recent years, God has shown me the power of using the imagination to see God at work in our soul. The holy imagination is a spiritual asset that enables not to see what isn’t true but to see what is true but unseen.

The mentors that God has brought into my life over the years stirs my soul to be a mentor and companion to others. I love meeting with young people who are seeking Christ with their whole heart yet struggle to experience what they know is true. I also love being a companion to people needing someone to hold prayerful space (young or old).

Emily and I married in June of 2001 just after I graduated from seminary. That same summer I started my first youth pastor job at Grace Community Church in Greensboro. This sweet church sought to cross racial and economic lines with the Gospel. I grew in my understanding of cross cultural ministry and had formative years as a young pastor. The church ordained me in 2005, an affirmation I carry with me to this day.

Our twin girls were born in 2004 and our son was born in 2006. Grace Community welcomed them into the life of the church so well and we cherish those supportive years as young parents. We had our hands full as young parents but I would return to the reality that Christ in broken me can live this life through me.

I was led in 2007 to serve as the High School Pastor at Westover Church. Emily and I sensed this was the right step. Again, it was an opportunity to serve at another church here in Greensboro. Even though it was kind of awkward to switch churches in the same town, Grace Community sent me out so well and Westover welcomed me home. My extended family still attends Westover and the church continues to support me in my current role.

I can say the same about thing about the years of youth ministry at Westover as I did at Grace Community, they were such sweet years. There were so many wonderful volunteers and incredible families to partner with and enjoy. Lot’s of laughter, fruit of our labor and connection. Many of these folks are still around and it’s fun to see old friends at places like the grocery store or at local coffee shops and weddings. I can’t help but to think that God placed so much favor on our family as we served at these two churches.

My tenth year of large-church youth ministry came in 2011 and I was running on empty. If I’m honest, that year was the worst year of my life. In July, my father passed away from an aggressive form of lung cancer. My emotional depletion from ministry hindered me from grieving well. I had never experienced panic attacks and acute anxiety as I did in those months around dad’s death. My body was telling me things I wasn’t willing to listen to in my mind.

Westover was so kind and supportive to allow me time to recover and heal. One year prior to my medical leave of absence, I had signed up to participate in Larry Crabb’s School of Spiritual Direction. Only God had that timing in mind. I showed up that November broken but willing to grow and learn. Dr. Crabb was someone I’d read over the years and was a skilled Christian psychologist who had launched a soul care ministry in 2001. He had moved from being a large group speaker to hosting smaller groups to teaching people how to combine soul care and discipleship bringing about real life transformation.

Dr. Crabb sensed my brokenness and approached me after one session. He asked if he could interact with me in front of the class of twenty-five people. I agreed and yet wasn’t sure what I had agreed to. He followed Jesus into my soul that week and helped me through some of issues of my heart while training people in soul care.

There is a longer story to tell with the specifics but I will just say that great healing took place for me that November month of 2011. I continued to talk to Dr. Crabb, took more classes and returned to complete his ministry’s Certificate of Spiritual Direction a year later.

Ultimately, my healing had become my training. To take the words of Henri Nouwen, God was forming me into a “wounded healer.” I’ve found it true that story can shape your vocational calling.

I returned to Westover and it was the best couple years of youth ministry. In 2013, I transitioned out of that position without having anything else set up. People thought I was crazy but it was without question the right thing to do. A very important note: through all that had happened up to this point, my marriage with Emily had gotten richer and deeper. I woke up to her and learned how to truly see her in everyday life. Because of that experience, I love working with engaged couples to help them get started on their journey and not make early mistakes of being overly distracted or pre-occupied.

Emily was working on her second book and doing such a wonderful job at her new writing career. We decided that it was her turn to develop her vocation and so I stayed home with the kids for two years and loved every minute of it. Being a stay-home dad taught me how to be present to my kids and work through my real identity in Christ. It was one thing to know who I was in Christ but another to experience that reality. Transitioning from a high achieving pastoral position to a home-maker brought that reality home for me (pun intended).

God really taught me about parenting and how to live life with God within the home. I appreciate the author who said “God is just as domestic as he is monastic.” Being present to family through abiding in Christ is a passion of mine to share personally and vocationally.

In the second half of 2014, Emily and I asked some of our mentors and close friends if they would come to our house 4 times over 8 months and be co-listeners with us. A co-listener is really someone who helps discern what God might be doing. Wes and Beth Ward, Kaz and Kendra Adachi, Steve and Paula Lynam, Angela Pharr and Mike and Carol Moses agreed to sit with us.

Mike had retried and after a few of our meetings he pulled me aside and said that I could step into his old non-profit. I was thrilled at that possibility and we took a few months to process and pray towards that possibility. Finally we agreed to take the next step to call the IRS and see if the non-profit was redeemable because of its inactive status.

Mike and I got on the phone with the IRS and it turns out that we were able to renew the dormant status of his non-profit called Grace Discipleship. From there it was surprisingly easy to transition the ministry into my name. It was super easy and felt good. The IRS operator was so nice and before hanging up the phone with her we asked what her name was and she said “Angel!” “Of course it is,” we said and laughed with joy. We laughed BIG because we saw our friend Jesus joyously making a way for the re-birth of Grace Discipleship.

So I stepped into this role January 1, 2015. I am so proud to have celebrated five years of ministry this past January 1st. God’s faithfulness and favor in Greensboro has been outstanding. Wonderful mentors and churches have given so much to our family and I feel has been time to give back. My heart through Grace Discipleship is to be that spiritual mentor, listener and teacher to twenty-somethings who are (like I was) in need of spiritual guidance and care. Grace Discipleship is a Greensboro, crowd funded work and I am thrilled to have my small part in God’s big plan for people in this town.

Now, I will go and take the challenge that Dr. Larry Crabb gave me years ago, “John, just follow Jesus into the lives of others.” God’s grace allows a generous orthodoxy to do this work for people who may differ theologically. My hope is to be a minster of presence that reflects the fantastic presence of Father, Son and Spirit. Amen!

Education

BS in Marketing and Hospitality Management | Appalachian State University
Master of Divinity in Pastoral Leadership | Columbia International University
Advanced Discipleship Training from the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries | Grace Ministries International | Marietta, GA
Certificate from the School of Spiritual Direction | New Way Ministries and Dr. Larry Crabb
Facilitator of Prepare and Enrich: a tool for pastoral pre-marital counseling
Certificate of Spiritual Direction | Phoenix Center for Spiritual Direction