Tuesday, September 16, 2008

"a change will do you good..."

well, in the immortal words of sheryl crow, "a change will do you good." i have been waiting to post this bit of news until it had been officially announced. starting monday, september 22, i will be full time at missiongathering as the pastor of connection and spiritual formation! i have resigned my full time position at west elm, but i will be staying on in a casual role there working one day a week or so. while i have learned a lot in retail management and the world of sales, it's not who i am wired to be.

i have known since i was in high school that i wanted to be in ministry. while in college i served as the junior high intern then as the junior high director at asbury united methodist church in tulsa, oklahoma. i then moved to san diego to be the middle school pastor at journey community church. after 3 years there and volunteer hours at the national youth workers convention, i joined the staff of youth specialties to help train and encourage youth pastors. my journey into retail began when zondervan bought ys and my job was downsized. thankfully in the midst of these and some other circumstances, i had found missiongathering - a community of faith where, on my first sunday there, i felt like i was home.

i have been playing in the band at mission for two years and have been on part-time staff for a year as part of the teaching team, helping with programming and production, and coordinating special events. now that i am full time, i will be overseeing leadership development (we're growing and can't afford to have the staff driving everything), spiritual formation (small groups, retreats, spiritual direction, spiritual growth), community connections (connecting people within mission and connecting mission to the community), and providing some structure to new ministries and programs within mission. we are growing in some great ways at missiongathering, but boy do i have my work cut out for me. regardless, though, i am very excited to be serving my church in this way and am excited about being able to wake up looking forward to going to work.

so there we go...a new adventure ahead...more to come, i'm sure. ~aroll

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alex-Awesome news. I'm so excited about the new job!

a_roll said...

thanks, dustin!! i'm really looking forward to it.

yatsarel said...

Hi Alex!
I don't think you'll remember me... My name's Dennise, I worked at DCLA back in 2006 (coordinating that humongous room with more than 1000 students where Danny Lopes was teaching) Anyhow,I saw your name in Marko's blog and wanted to see what was up with you and YS. I was shocked to find out you'd been out for a while now... DCLA won't be the same without you answering the same questions over and over to volunteers freaking out on the walkie-talkies ;-]. Glad to know God has brought all these great changes into your life... I guess waiting patiently while working on retail has paid off.
Me , I'm no longer living in the States... I came back home to Colombia and funny, about to become a pastor as well...still working with the youth and planning to do missions (more often).
Well, it was nice to find you in cyberspace! Enjoy this new stage!!
Blessings.