Ministry Story

Hello!

I’ve been serving full-time vocational ministry since 1995.

I felt a clear call to ministry when I was in eighth grade. I woke up one morning wondering what direction I was going to take my life, literally thinking, “What is the one thing I’m going to be best at?” I was friends with “powerful” kids in junior high: one friend was the most popular, another was the toughest, and the third was the best athlete. All of these pursuits were temporary…and therefore, not worth my lifelong commitment.

I figured that since my soul would last forever, I should work to improve its condition. In this, I felt God say, “Get to know me and help others do the same.” My family had not been to church in a couple years, but I had some Catholic friends so I started attending their confirmation classes. At this point in my life, I decided that God was calling me to become a priest! I finished junior high and continued through high school with full time ministry as my goal.

At Azusa Pacific University, I double majored in Biblical Studies and Psychology. Upon graduation I went to serve in youth ministry at Saddleback Church under my mentor and friend Doug Fields. I ministered at Saddleback for eleven years, the last four in the role of High School Pastor.

I decided to resign from Saddleback. At this point of my life, it was the most difficult decision I had faced. I felt God was calling me to “do something different.” I left Saddleback under great terms, although it was hard to leave a place and people whom I loved. I had deep roots, an established position, and tons of potential for the future. However, I was sure God was calling, so I left.

I went to work at NewSong Church in Irvine, and this was a wonderfully different experience for two reasons: (a) The church was more than 90% Asian (and I’m not). (b) The senior pastor wanted to transform his two thousand person church into a collection of house churches. A wild vision! I was responsible for the strategy and the leadership training—none of us were sure it would work, but we moved in that direction.

After a year, I resigned (again, in good standing) because I was moving towards an executive pastor role, and I didn’t feel like that was the right ministry for me at that time.

I went back to Saddleback, to serve as the pastor of Regional Ministries. My responsibility was to build Saddleback’s regional strategy from the ground up. This was quite a challenge! After one year, I was asked to join the executive leadership team. Rick Warren (the senior pastor) continued to add new responsibilities to my plate. After three years in this role, I resigned a second time from Saddleback (again, in good standing).

I worked as a writer for a year at Group Publishing. I knew this wasn’t a long term option, becasue I love serving in the church. I knew that God was preparing me for the next step — I never would have guessed that God would call me back into youth ministry.

I accepted a position to be the high school pastor at Mariners church. I knew I was in for a big challenge. The youth ministry wasn’t in a great place and there was a lot of pressure to grow the ministry. I knew this before I accepted the role. I rebuilt everything from the ground up—at times, faster than I would have liked.

I remember one Sunday in June with great clarity: after 18 months, we hit a new attendance high (we doubled). We also had more than a dozen students demonstrated initiative in huge ways (serving, leading, etc.)—this was unheard of!

A few weeks passed, and I had a discouraging conversation with my senior pastor. This was a clear signal that I was no longer a fit, and it was time to begin praying about another ministry.

That day, another senior pastor (Scott Rachels) called and asked if I was interested in serving as his associate pastor… the timing was amazing. I had not talked with Scott in over five months, he had no idea about my discouragement. After a few months of prayers, consideration, and meeting the church leadership, I accepted a position as associate pastor at Newport Mesa Church.

I’ve had several transitions in ministry. All of them have been from positions of comfort to greater risk. This transition from Mariners was the only one that was negative. However, in a few years, I’d be back to serve at Mariners … so it wasn’t catastrophic!

I served at Newport Mesa Church for only a year. The board removed Scott, and it wasn’t pretty. My position was “safe,” but it wasn’t idral. I was approached by a recruiter about a position at New Life Church in Pismo Beach. I moved up to be the Family Ministries Pastor, on the teaching team, and to be on the short list to be the next senior pastor.

Tragically, the senior pastor at New Life Church, died of cancer after a year. Although there was great support for me to follow him, the board decided they wanted someone who grew up in their denomination. This was a painful transition, not because of their decision, but how it was handled.

I spent the next three years working for Christian non-profits: Living on the Edge and Pastors.com. In both places, I held essentially the same job: editing and producing discipleship resources. After just a few months, I missed serving in the local church, but I was convinced this “pause” was God’s will for my life.

My best friend, Doug Fields, went back into local church ministry, and he needed a high school pastor. I still loved high school students and missed serving in the church, so this was an easy decision. I started at (back) Mariners Church, and two weeks later everything shut down for COVID!

After 24 months as the high school pastor, the church leadership transitioned me to equip the youth ministries at their 5 campuses. This sounded like a promotion—but it isn’t what I signed up for.

I had heard that Pacific Coast Church (San Clemente), just down the road, was looking for an execuative pastor. After a few months, I accepted a position as Executive pastor. This is where I’m currently serving. I’d love the chance to share my heart and why I am looking for a new role.