For those of you who don’t know, I am now officially a “real” pastor…whatever that means. I’ve been doing ministry for a long time, but I’ve never really felt like a pastor. I’ve even been given various titles that contained the word pastor, but most of the time I really just felt like a glorified intern at best. This time it’s different. This time I’m doing pastor “things”. This time I feel like a pastor. This time I really love the folks I’m doing church with in a way that makes me want to lead them. Monday will be my 2 week anniversary as the real thing.
My official title is Connection / Worship Pastor. You’re impressed aren’t you????

I’ve been secretly praying about church planting for about 2 years. Little did I know that all along the Lord was hearing my secret request. It always felt like a strange thing for me to feel led to do. I was already on staff at a church most music guys dream of. But the most bizarre thing in all my feelings was honestly, how many of you know music guys who plant churches? I know a lot of music guys, some of whom even do music at a church plant. Most of them weren’t actually in on the planting part though. The most surprising thing about what I was feeling was that I was more interested in actually seeing the Church take Biblical shape, than I was in doing music. I was really feeling a tug to be in on a fresh journey to be a Jesus church. Over the past 8 years, I’ve been in a lot of churches doing various ministry activities. During this time, I acquired a few pretty deep convictions about what should, and should not be taking place in the Church. This just kept driving me to seek the Lords guidance on how to walk this dark path I was feeling led towards.
Even after 2 years of praying, the phone call caught me pretty off guard. My friend Dave Jeffreys, who I’ve known for years but had never really gotten close to, called to ask how I would feel about planting a church. (In addition to spending a few years in college with Dave, I’d had the opportunity to do a few ministry events with him. Dave is a very gifted speaker, with a heart for the Truth and the Kingdom. The kind of guy anyone with a true heart for ministry would want to do Church with.) Our friend Jeff Mangum had planted a church about 4 months prior to our discussion, and his church had already received a request to help plant another church here in Bell County. Here we go! After a few extensive discussions with Dave, I really began to feel the Lord’s assurance that this was the road I’d been praying about.
We started meeting with a few families here in Bell County within a month of our first discussion, and yet again the Lord began to speak very clearly to me. I knew from the jump that these people were on the same road that I’d been trying to follow for 2 years. They just wanted to be a part of something real; something authentic that just chased hard after the heart of God. We’ve been meeting together for about 2 months now, sharing the vision of The Vista Community Church, over pizza or queso. We don’t pretend to have everything figured out, but we know the Lord has called us to a new work for the Kingdom. It’s exciting…REALLY exciting.
Tonight we had our 2nd of 3 “Come and See” meetings. These meetings are simply a chance for people interested in The Vista, to come and see what it’s all about. Novel idea isn’t it? We share the vision, values, and mission of the Church, as well as sharing some more food. (Food is always good!) Tonight we filled the Studinka’s home with about 40 people or so. Most of whom were new faces, and many of whom, have now become family. I came home tonight in a state of excitation that I’ve never felt about ministry. This thing is WAY beyond me, or my silent wishes. It’s even way beyond anything I’ve ever done, or been a part of before. This is Church in a way I’ve not yet known.

For those of you who have become our Vista family, thank you. We love you guys, and are honored to be able to lock arms with you in this journey. Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor. I look forward to many days of joy and blessing as The Vista Community Church!