There was a time in my Christian life when I lost faith in the church as a vehicle of social and personal transformation. Instead I planned to express my ministry gifts and calling in a parachurch context. I dreamed of serving as a director of a faith-based nonprofit. Certainly they are much better at transforming the world, I thought. In the last five to six years, however, my faith in the church has been restored. Not primarily because I have had the privilege of serving and belonging to better churches, although that is true too. My faith in the church as God's instrument of transformation has been renewed primarily because of a renewed conviction that what the world needs most is not a social service agency, but a worshiping community to which to belong that incarnates the love and justice of God. I have come to believe that the church is much more than merely a collection of people who think similarly and occasionally give to charity. Instead, I have found that the church of Jesus Christ is the mystical family of God that continues to incarnate God's love and justice in the world as Jesus her bridegroom shows her and commands her to.

At the same time, I have also discovered that my personality is much more conducive to a creative environment where I have freedom to exercise my gifts, dreams, and create new things—something established churches unfortunately tend not to be. So where can a called and creative minister thrive in God's chosen vehicle of social and personal transformation: the church? The answer Osheta and I have sensed God providing is church-planting. Church-planting is not only conducive to creative personalities, it requires them. Only creatives have the type of improvising skills to roll with all the various punches that accompany church-planting. So, for the last year or so Osheta and I have been pursuing this area of ministry and just this last week have crossed a very important threshold.

Last week, from Tuesday to Saturday, Osheta and I—along with 8 other couples—participated in a national Assessment Center for prospective church-planters in the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination. (If you are not familiar with the ECC, see here and here.) This process is very important and very thorough. As Peter Sung, the national Director of Church Planting, said: the Covenant's philosophy of church planting begins with finding called and competent pastors who have the character needed to plant churches.

As a part of this process, Osheta and I had to travel to Minneapolis, MN. While there we were interviewed, analyzed, participated in group activities, preached, and made presentations. Overall, the experience was designed to test our endurance and reveal our true selves. The assessment looks at personality, emotional health, ministry potential, strategic viability, compatibility, and timing. Osheta and I love talking, and so this naturally suited us. Others struggled and it was apparent they'd had enough socializing very early on. By the end of the week, we'd made several new friends and felt as if we'd known them for ages. We'd also learned a great deal about ourselves, our gifts, our growth edges, and our calling. And by the end we had the honor of being recommended for church planting by this wonderful group of leaders.

It's difficult to describe just what this recommendation means to me and Osheta. We are incredibly humbled and tremendously affirmed. We are filled with vision and hope, and we finally feel like we are moving into our true calling. Church planting is the culmination of the hopes and dreams we've had as a couple since we met nearly 10 years ago. And church planting is precisely what God has preparing us for all this time.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying with us through this process. And a special thanks to all of you who have invested in us—helping to prepare us for this calling. We ask for your continued prayers and support.

A special thanks to the Assessment Team of the ECC. It was such a pleasure to share ourselves with you. You were so gracious. We'd like to especially thank Jason Condon, Michael Carrion, Nicole Bullock, and Peter Sung. You guys are amazing men and women of God that we are honored to serve alongside.