my new role on the starship enterprise

With a degree in Youth Ministry and 20 years of experience, I’ve often said that I don’t know what else I’m qualified to do. My role has been multi-faceted over the years, and I’ve learned a lot about leading people in worship, preaching, teaching, etc. But I’ve always felt a call to youth ministry for the long haul.

But now I have a new job. I’m the chaplain for the Starship Enterprise.

Well, not exactly. But my official title is something along the lines of Pastor for the Next Generation (ages 12-29). I’ll be overseeing the youth ministry, and playing a bigger role at the midtown gathering of Calvary, which is where most of the college students show up. We’ve hired a full-time director for middle school (Jeremiah Kingshipp) and a part-time director for high school (Sara Pensyl). In addition to those two, Aaron Hart is coming on staff as a Ministry Apprentice, focusing most of his time on youth ministry. I can’t wait to see what God does!

I’m excited about the changes. For a long time, it served Calvary well for me to be wearing many hats, working in many roles. But as time has passed and we’ve grown, the roles have grown, and having one person as the point for each ministry has been limiting. With the addition of some new leadership, I believe that our best days are around the corner. The people who are joining the team are bright, passionate Jesus-followers, enthusiastic, and very capable. The teams they lead are full of great people.

While our structure is changing, and there may be some changes in the programming, we are more committed than ever to seeing this next generation come to know and love Jesus, to being a church without walls, and seeing a transformation of Kingdom proportions take place.

I’m taking a cue from the opening of Star Trek:
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

I like it. I think it’s got a certain ring to it. Exploration. New life. A focus on going…

sounds like Kingdom stuff to me.

Make it so…