Residency has provided me the courage to pursue ministry rather than continue only as a volunteer; plus, learning leadership soft skills has been much more valuable to me than any time I spent in a classroom while enrolled at a Christian college.

Currently, I serve as a Worship Resident at the Lexington, KY campus of Crossroads Church (Cincinnati, OH). From the beginning, residency has been a challenge, but in the absolute best way that is making me grow and get better! I have known for a long time that God called me to be a worship leader, and now I am in a position to do everything I can to make that a reality.

Leadership Pathway connected me to Community Christian Church in the Atlanta suburb of Sharpsburg, GA. I was taken by their motto as a church ‘for the rest of us.’

You should look for a residency program like this one, and if you’re at all considering ministry, I’d say that’s probably the Holy Spirit nudging you to do this.

When I first began in residency, theology and doctrine were the most important things to me. Now that I have experienced what ministry really is, I understand that relational skills, leadership, and counseling are just as important.

Residency has been transformational for me. 
My journey towards leadership began with my desire to not lead, yet I moved forward with a sense of responsibility and an attitude of obedience and heart to follow God no matter what, even if that meant feeling uncomfortable or out of my element.

Being overwhelmed with a pile of work can be daunting. It is especially troublesome early in a career of ministry. Potentially someone on your team is in their first “real” job. This could be a resident or the youngest and greenest among you.

“I can’t do it. I can’t keep up. Will this ever slow down? Maybe ministry isn’t for me,” began a coaching conversation I recently had. I’ve had a version of this conversation many times as a coach. And I admit I’ve had it many times in my head with myself, too!

Here’s my conversation executive pastors Bryan Carter of Crossroads Cincinnati, Greg Gilmore of Owensboro Christian Church, Chris Hahn of Southland in Lexington, KY and Bart Stone of Momentum Church in Atlanta. All went to college together, all began in kids ministry (I didn’t actually even know that until this conversation), and all have sustain ministry for the better part of 25 years.

Perhaps you have a memory of climbing up to the top of the high dive, or walking to the edge of the cliff over looking the lake below. Your friends are there urging you on. Suddenly, your legs feel wobbly, you let out a nervous chuckle, and you think to yourself “I can’t do this. Perhaps I should climb back down.”

Welcome to The Jitters.

My pathway to leadership began in 10th grade, in student ministry. I was approached by my student pastor to lead worship, as well as leading other groups of students in various event settings – Wednesday nights and Sundays as a volunteer. I loved it. I loved leading, but at that point in my life, it was more just something for me to do than really thinking about it as a ministry, let alone as a career. At that time, I never considered ministry to be an option.

 “I think I should just take this full time ministry that’s been offered to me.
Why should I do a residency for less money?”

This is a question I get often. It’s a legit question. Parents are on our backs to pay the bills, get off their cell phone plan, and move on.

Here’s the four things I typically answer with:

A commitment to being this type of church is at the core of all we do. Perhaps you could evaluate your church or organization through these six criteria that have now become values that we try to live in to with our partner churches.

How would you rate your church in owning these six values:

I think we’d all agree that self-awareness coupled with an understanding of our own shortcomings is paramount in understanding how to set goals and strive for the next milestone of leadership.

If in your coaching & developmental conversation time you’ve hit a road block, and when you ask “How are you this week?” you are getting a predictable blank stare or the same old “fine" then perhaps this could help.

Leadership development is the ‘how’ to a young leader’s ‘why’ and ‘what.’

This is a picture of a simple coaster that sits on my desk. Every morning I walk to my desk and typically set my coffee cup down on it and am challengd by the question: “Who’s the Next You”

I didn’t plan to work at a church. Ministry kind of chose me, in college. I was actually pursuing my finance and economics degree, but I always had a passion for music. I was creating and producing music in my dorm room when out of nowhere, a long-time family friend asked if I wanted to be part of a creative arts internship at Verve Church in Las Vegas.

All my passions, dreams and desires have always pointed directly at ministry. I certainly looked for ways around it, but God simply laid a vision and passion on my heart to be a pastor some way, somehow.

From a very early age I loved to lead, build and create. Whether I was conning my parents into buying something from my “art store” (the bottom bunk of my bed) or leading a group of guys at church, I was always creating and leading. It’s what somehow landed me a job in college working for a rapidly growing church plant, doing everything from creating the student ministry to running the fully mobile setup team …

I chose ministry because I was honestly searching for something more meaningful to do with my life, craving to be part of something bigger. When the opportunity to become a Student Ministry Resident at Rocky Mountain Christian Church came along, I saw it as a happy accident. It made me realize: Why not me? Why not my life?