The Ministry Web

No doubt I have missed stories and left out people who are doing great things in God's name.  Please let me hear those stories.  They need to be told too!

The following stories are of people who were a part of various ministry I served over the years and went on to find a ministry of their own.  Some are "professional ministers;" some are not.  This is by no means an exclusive list.  I write this today to simply remind us all that we are joined together in Christ's love in a web of ministry.  In no way do I claim any credit for the faithfulness of the folks written about below.  That's all about Jesus.   But I'm not taking the blame either...  hehe

My earliest realization of the web of ministry goes all the way back to my days at Springfield Friends Meeting.  As a number of the college students from our group began to spend their summers (just as I had many years before) at Quaker Lake Camp, it began to dawn on me just how many of my youth had chosen to serve God at QLC.  Going back to Centre Friends, Cedar Square Friends and New Garden Friends, my best guess is that about 25 of my youth served on staff there.  My own QLC counselors were in great part responsible for my working there, so I can only assume these 25 accounted for many more hearts that served God at camp.  That's a pretty big web, but it gets much bigger when I consider that one of my most active youth from Springfield, Heather Beggs Varner (see picture; she's in the middle), has now been the Camp Director at QLC for a number of years.  Her influence on both staff and campers has been incredible, and I can see the web spreading much wider, even from Florida...

That Springfield group has produced more that its' share of ministers.  Ken Hill, Ben Moran, Amy Simmons and countless others have served that Meeting and other churches in leadership and ministry roles.  Zack Harward was in a Christian band for several years.  David Mercadante (who as a very young teenager in my group seemed destined to be a Yugoslavian soccer player) is currently the Senior Pastor at Archdale Friends Meeting.  Ashley Goad Broadhurst (pictured with one of her current critters; you gotta' love stealing pictures from Facebook!) has served as a Youth Pastor in several churches from several different denominations.  She is one of my heroes for all of the amazing mission work she has done this past year.  All 3 of them received a great deal of their inspiration from Ray Luther, who followed me as Youth Pastor and is now Senior Pastor at SFM.  Ray was a part of my web well before he ever came to SFM.  The LORD does provide...

As that web kept spreading, I moved on to be part of another.  To try and list all of the great people from FUMC-Kissimmee who are part of the web of ministry would take far too long, but I will hit some highlights for you.  Wayne Cook and Cathy Thacker, who were a part of our volunteer Youth Ministry Team at various times, are now both ordained and serving churches in the Florida Conference of the UMC.  Teresa Reep Tysinger has served a the Communications Director for a UMC in Greensboro, NC for several years now.  Amber Herrick is currently going back to school in Nashville as she prepares for some type of ministry.  Jill Souther O'Brien and Kelly Jeck serve their churches by singing on praise teams.  Sarah Crudele-Fry served as my intern one summer, and she and hubby Josh were part of an amazing music ministry in college.  Adam Hill (pictured above) served as a missionary to Italy with Campus Crusade for Christ and still works with that organization.  Brook Teoli ministers through her wonderful  blog.  Connor Lewis and his wife have taught Sunday School in Atlanta- as have many others I am certain (and I would love to hear from all of them!).  People like Karen Fry, Cindy Martin, Sandi Lynch and Mark McKenna continued to make a difference in the lives of students long after I was gone. I haven't even mentioned Darin Miller yet- because his story is coming later this week.  And great young leaders like Justin Overstreet and Jeff Miller from Wesley Memorial in Tampa are just getting started.  The web connects us all...

It is such a blessing to know that because of this web of ministry, and 1000's of others like it, new people hear about the love of Jesus every single day.  The web keeps spreading.  I thank God everyday that I am part of something so amazing, and I pray for all of those in ministry- professional or otherwise.  May Jesus guide your feet and light your path...

Because of Jesus,