August 5, 2011
Matt Stone Plant city TBD
Resident: Fellowship Denver, Denver, CO
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Matt has spent most of his life focused on the two arenas most people don’t like to talk about – faith and politics. But Matt says those are the only two things worth talking about!
For the last three years, Matt worked as the Connect Pastor with LegacyChurch in Plano, Texas. During that time, he provided leadership and training to twenty LifeGroups and had the opportunity to teach and preach on a regular basis. Last December, Matt graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theology. Matt was named a Senior Preacher and had the honor of preaching in Chafer Chapel on I Corinthians 3.10-15.
Stone came to DTS after spending most of his life in Georgia. Before seminary, Matt served as a city council member in Warner Robins, Georgia, and co-founded a technology consulting firm. He graduated from Mercer University with a degree in Political Science and Christianity (see – there’s those two topics again).
Matt and his wife Heather have been married for six years, and recently moved to Longmont, Colorado to plant a missional church in the Front Range. They enjoy traveling together and Matt spends his free time hiking, biking, reading, watching The Daily Show and listening to Mumford & Sons and John Denver.
August 4, 2011
Justin Buzzard Garden City Church, San Jose, CA
Resident: Austin Stone, Austin, TX
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Justin Buzzard is a 5th generation Californian who has spent the last 9 years living and pastoring in the San Francisco Bay Area. Justin has been married to the woman of his dreams, Taylor, for 7+ years. Justin and Taylor are raising 3 little warriors age 4 and under: Cru, Hudson, and Gus.
Justin’s passion is enjoying and communicating the good news of Jesus. He’s especially passionate about what God will do through Garden City Church and he feels a particular burden to reach Bay Area men. Justin blogs regularly at BuzzardBlog.com and is the author of Consider Jesus and a forthcoming book, Date Your Wife (Crossway, 2012). You can find Justin running on Bay Area trails, wrestling with his sons, dating his wife, and hanging out with friends old and new. B.A. Communication Studies, Westmont College, 2000. M.Div. Fuller Theological Seminary, 2006.
August 4, 2011
Jerome Gay Vision Church, Raleigh, NC
Resident: Austin Stone, Austin, TX
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Jerome Gay Jr., was raised in Southeast Washington, DC and moved to the Raleigh, NC in 1997 to attend St. Augustine’s College for his undergraduate studies. While there he founded a campus ministry that emphasized the gospel and biblical orthodoxy in the urban context. The ministry grew campus wide with many trusting Christ as Savior, upon graduating he served as an elder for several years and after fervent prayer was led to start Vision International Church in 2006, later named Vision Church in November of 2009. Vision Church has grown by God’s grace and is impacting the inner city of Raleigh by missionally engaging the city with the gospel of Jesus Christ through discipleship, service and social empowerment.
Jerome Gay Jr. is a member of the Acts 29 Network, Founder of the Bless the Future Initiative and Lead and Founding Pastor of Vision Church. Jerome has a vision to see gospel-centered churches and leaders raised up within the urban context and sent out to plant other gospel-centered churches. Jerome is married to Crystal Gay and the father of a lovely little girl Jamari Gay and son Jerome Jordan Gay III. Jerome is currently seeking his Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
August 4, 2011
James Roberson Plant city TBD
Resident: Blueprint Church, Atlanta, Ga
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James, the son of a pastor, went off to college at James Madison University in order to play college football with hopes of one day playing in the NFL. Little did he know that God was using football to prepare him for ministry. James served as a leader of the IMPACT Movement, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ reaching African-American college students at both James Madison University in Va. and Howard University in DC. Later, he interned with New City Fellowship in Chattanooga, TN where he learned about community development, and lead a summer camp serving urban youth. He also served as the Director of Research and Development for Jobs for Life, a national non-profit agency. There he created training classes and developed curriculum to serve the jobless. He went on to serve as the senior pastor of Church on the Rock in Raleigh, NC for five years where he grew in preaching, teaching, and leadership.
James attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He is married to Natarsha Roberson who played college basketball and frequently reminds him that she can beat him in a pick up game. They have two beautiful daughters Faith Symone (2) , and Leah Noel(1). In his downtime he is at the gym trying to maintain a 450lb bench press. He writes these things to impress and intimidate people.
August 3, 2011
Brandon Addison Plant city TBD
Resident: Fellowship Bible Church Nashville
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Before going into pastoral ministry, Brandon worked for leadership development organizations in the federal government and in the non profit realm. He is a self claimed “recovering experience junkie” whose past life included being a former college mascot, whitewater river guide, and certified alligator wrestler.
More recently, he has served on staff at The Journey , a missional, multi-site Church in Saint Louis. Brandon also received a Masters of Divinity from Covenant Seminary, receiving honors as a Francis Schaeffer Fellow and Kern Scholar while he studied the intersection of faith, life, and culture. He is currently serving on pastoral staff in Nashville at Christ Community, a church known for its creative abilities and focus on “Gospel Astonishment.”
When not serving the local church, Brandon studies the issues of young adults, consults on leadership development issues, and tries to stay in shape. He is wed to his best friend Amy and both are excited about their new slugger, Aidan, who was born earlier this year. Ask Brandon and Amy about their household intercollegiate SEC football rivalry.
August 2, 2011
Nick Bogardus Mars Hill, Orange County, CA
Resident: Mars Hill, Seattle, WA
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A native of Orange County, California, Nick Bogardus spent a decade in the music industry. Eight of those years he ran an artist management company that oversaw the careers of bands like Thrice, Cold War Kids, and Matt Costa. He took his experience to Biola University as an adjunct professor, creating and teaching the school’s first music management class. He and his wife Kim then spent a year and half doing ministry in Mongolia before moving to Seattle. In Seattle, Nick served as the the Director of PR/Media Relations at Mars Hill. He, his wife, and daughter have now moved back to Orange County to plant Mars Hill Church Orange County.
July 9, 2011
“In his book Leading On Empty, Wayne Cordeiro says that there are only four ways to live your life:
1. Reaction – passively dominated by urgencies and pushy people
2. Conformity – succumbing to the fear of man and just being and doing what everyone else wants, which is not necessarily following God’s will for you personally
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May 24, 2011
Wade serves as Executive Pastor at Crossroads Church in Ruston, LA.
I’ve had a chance over the past few days (as I’ve been recovering from some pretty major dental surgery), to reflect back on the past 5-10 years. I’m 39 now, and it’s very clear to me that I’m entering a new season of life and a new stage in my own personal journey.
There have been a lot of things that have contributed to that journey, including my reconciliation with my best friend (Len) and my former pastor/now co-pilot James Skinner. But there’s one specific voice that stands out to me.
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May 24, 2011
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Golfer Wins Car at College Station Golf Tournament
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A Houston man is very happy that he attended the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Ray Dorr Classic at the Pebble Creek Country Club
Mitch Maher of Katy played in the tournament Monday, and thanks to a little luck he scored a hole-in-one, earning him a brand new car.
It was Mitch’s first ever hole-in-one, and it came on the par 3, 17th hole.
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May 11, 2011
FA Alum Scott Lehr recently wrote on the Vision, Mission and Strategy of Southbridge Fellowship in Raleigh, NC
Vision, Mission and Strategy
A couple of weeks ago in a message I talked about the difference between, vision, mission and strategy. One friend wanted me to repeat it because he said, “You spoke kind of fast for that part.” Go figure. So I figured I would put it on the blog so anyone who wanted to see what I said would have it in writing.
In the message I was talking about how we make decisions based on our mission. I referred to a talk I was having with Jimmy Carroll the pastor of Journey Church here in Raleigh. During our lunch he asked me what I thought the difference was between, vision, mission and strategy. Without really thinking about it, I replied, “Vision is what you see, mission is what you do and strategy is how you do it.” I don’t know if God just gave that to me or if I heard it somewhere else before, but it made sense to me.
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