A New Chapter- Mitchell Fusion

Making a major, life changing announcement is always a challenge and while social media has a lot to offer by way of dispensing information quickly to a broad audience, there are so many things that can't be captured in 140 characters or less. My hope is that this post will give a clearer picture of our latest, life changing announcement as we transition into a new season of ministry.

At the end of January an opportunity was presented to me to consider taking on a new ministry role a the Lead Pastor of Fusion Church in Mitchell, SD. After several weeks consisting of prayer, fasting and seeking counsel from trusted friends and mentors, we decided to accept the offer and we will be making the move sometime this summer. The Lord continues to make me more and more excited about the opportunity and I can't wait to meet the people of Fusion and to see where God will have us journey together.

While there were many things that factored into the decision, the first thing I want to make absolutely clear is that there was absolutely nothing negative impacting my decision to move to Fusion from Embrace. I have been on staff at Embrace Church in Sioux Falls since August 2010 and have been able to be a part of a growing, thriving, innovative church and served alongside people that I love deeply and will miss terribly. In fact, Adam Weber (my Lead Pastor) has been a huge source of encouragement and one of my biggest cheerleaders in making this move, not because he's glad to see me go, but because he wants to see me grow.

Embrace has provided me a place to engage in different ministry areas (care, prayer, service/outreach, small groups, missions, worship) and to grow in my capacity as a leader and to heal and mature in ways that were incredibly necessary in order for me to be able to pursue an opportunity like this. I'm sure I'll continue to learn from what Adam and Embrace are doing and you can bet that I'll be one of their biggest outside supporters as the church continues to work to reach the next person for Jesus Christ.

So, the next natural question would be that if Embrace has been such a great place to work, why would I choose to leave? If I was being completely honest, I would say that the role of senior pastor is one that has been in the back of my mind for some time. I have had people ask me if I'd ever thought about being a pastor many times over my 18 years in ministry. Sometimes the question would come from people that I had only briefly encountered and sometimes it would come from people that had worked closely with me who had the time and proximity to see things developing in me that I hadn't seen myself.

Over the last few years my role has been as the Care Pastor for Embrace which has allowed me the opportunity to exercise certain areas of pastoral gifting in ways that have confirmed a sense of pastoral calling, but have not necessarily afforded me the opportunity to explore others. I have been incredibly honored to be able to provide counsel to people in crisis, help people to connect in areas of discipleship, walk with people through health scares and to help people during times of loss and grief. These have certainly confirmed my heart for people and are some of the most cherished conversations that have ever been entrusted to me.

While those pastoral roles have been important for this season of ministry at Embrace, I have also had a growing desire to teach and to be more involved in big picture decisions in ministry. Both are areas that I feel I have some gifting in, but both are also areas where Embrace has great people already in place. In fact, Embrace has been gifted with some great leaders that fill these roles in a way that has made it one of the fastest growing churches in America. Because of this, I have put those desires on hold and have sought to learn patience and humility until such a time as God would allow me to step into a role where those gifts would be needed from me. I believe that the opportunity at Fusion is one that God has been preparing me for and that this is the right time and place for me to take on such a role.

Much like our move from Hanfield UMC to Sioux Falls 10 years ago, this is a move that is incredibly bittersweet. We leave a church that we love with people that are among the dearest friends we have ever had in order to pursue something that we believe God is calling us to do. Thankfully, this move will not take us as far away and will actually put us closer to some of our family (Amy's dad, brother, cousin and step-grandmother all live in Mitchell) which should help ease the transition some.

We're excited to start a new chapter on a journey we never expected to be on. God has been so incredibly gracious to allow us to experience the things that we've experienced along the way and our hope is that the lessons we've learned and the things that we have seen would make us more effective in ministering to the needs of the people of Mitchell.

Ways you can be praying:
-Pray for Xander. In many ways, we feel like Xander is giving up the most in this move. He leaves behind friends, a high school that he loves that is unlike anything Mitchell has to offer, and his FTC robotics team that he's been a part of for several years (Mitchell has no FTC team). Pray that he would be able to find meaningful activities and good friends in his remaining three years of high school. I've told him that if God is calling our family to Mitchell that God has something there for all of us, including Xander.
-Pray for Maia. Pray for a good transition from elementary to middle school while also adapting to a new community. Pray for great friends and opportunities to continue to engage in all things artsy in a community that actually has quite a bit to offer her.
-Pray for Fusion. Pray that God would lead and guide this community of believers into a greater understanding of who He is and who He has created Fusion to be for Mitchell and the surrounding area.
-Pray for Brandon Vetter (the founding Pastor of Fusion) and his family as they make the move to Bismarck Legacy in Bismarck, ND. Brandon did a great job in establishing a solid foundation for the future of Fusion and we're excited to see how God will continue to use him in his new season of ministry as well.
-Pray for Embrace. Pray for new leadership in the area of pastoral care and that the right person/persons will emerge to provide for this growing area in the life of Embrace.
-Pray for Amy as she determines where to engage in things in Mitchell. Our thought right now is that she will still be teaching voice at the University of Sioux Falls once a week (it's only an hour's drive), but she will be closing her home studio and assessing how to best use her gifts and talents in our new community.
-Pray for me. Pray I would be faithful, humble and effective in carrying out the call that God has given me and that I would continue to remain teachable so that I can grow to be the leader that Fusion Church needs.