Spiritual Map & My Friend David

I just started a course through Sioux Falls Seminary a few weeks ago that is designed as a discipleship course for church staff and lay leaders. It wound up being sort of a last minute thing for me, but I knew that if I didn't grab the opportunity that it would be another year before anything like it came my way and that there are no guarantees that I would have the availability at a later date to engage in the process.

One of the things we were encouraged to do in the first session was to begin to work through a spiritual map of our lives in order to recognize and remember what God has done and to see what insights might be gained by a deeper exploration of our journey. A discussion that was launched from that exercise involved identifying someone that was instrumental in our walk and the impact that they had.

After a few days of reflection, there are several people that I could easily point to as having an impact. I've been blessed with a great family and have worked long term and short term with people in ministry to whom I owe an incredible debt of gratitude. But, if I had to pinpoint one person that has probably had the biggest impact on me in shaping my theology and philosophy of ministry I would have to say it is David Mullens.

David was a key part of the worship team at Hanfield UMC when I first started in ministry in 1997. He was a pastor who was serving in a role in the UMC's North Indiana Conference Office at the time and has since gone back into service in a local church. Whether intentional or not, David wound up being a mentor for me as I was an incredibly immature Christian called to lead a congregation in worship.

David's thoughtful intelligence and gentle patience with me as a young leader made for easy conversation on topics both theological and musical that gave me a deeper hunger to study and give further thought to whatever it was we discussed. He was also uniquely gifted at offering a word of correction when I made bad decisions or said something out of line (which I did quite a bit when I started in ministry). Rarely did I ever feel anger from any of those interactions, even when it would have been justified. Instead, it was a gentle rebuke from a friend that always gave opportunity for repentance and reconciliation.

I found over time that David's thoughtful consideration of Scripture, theology and ministry was the bench mark that I used in my own study and practice. There were many conversations that we had where I would address a topic that I'd given thought to just to see if it struck a similar chord in my friend and mentor. Even after he went back to serving as a pastor and I no longer had regular contact with him, I was always encouraged to discover that we were wrestling with some of the same topics and coming to similar conclusions.

Even though our interactions are much fewer now due to distance and life changes, I can still definitely sense David's influence in how I process this journey with God and what it means to live a faithful witness