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Saint Luke JOY Church
Worshiping God...Loving Each Other...Reaching Out...
   
My wife Shaylene and I grew up in Hannibal, Missouri--the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Harry Morgan (Colonel Potter on MASH), and Margaret Tobin ("The Unsinkable Molly Brown" of Titanic fame). We have two children, Rebecca and Isaiah, who are ten years apart. Our blood bleeds St. Louis Cardinals and KC Chiefs red. We love to root for the Redbirds and the Chiefs, although the KC Royals are beginning to grow on us a bit.
I graduated from Hannibal High School and attended Western Illinois University--Go Leathernecks!--where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a Minor in Political Science. I ended up two classes shy of having a Minor in American Literature also. I attended seminary and earned a Masters of Divinity from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. I am currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at UDTS with a focus on congregational revitalization with an emphasis on Biblical Theology.
I am a second career pastor. Prior to enrolling in seminary I served in the United States Army as an enlisted soldier for three years. I then worked as a special agent for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for a brief time before working in store management for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. for nearly eight years. I first felt a calling on my life to pastoral ministry when I was fifteen years old at the New Wilmington Missionary Conference in Western Pennsylvania. I ran from this calling for many years before the Lord grabbed hold of me and let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not where he desired for me to be!
While there are many exciting aspects of being an ordained minister in Christ's Church, what I treasure most is leading worship on Sunday mornings and teaching/leading Bible studies. I had a wise seminary professor who constantly reminded us, "We cannot love God deeply without knowing God deeply." I firmly believe that the place where we learn about God the most is through the gift of revelation he has provided for us: the Holy Bible. While we are certainly not to worship the Bible, we are to submit to it, as Scripture reveals to us all that God desires for us to know about how to live, love, worship, and grow.
If you would ever like to visit about St. Luke JOY Church, the superiority of the Cardinals to any other baseball team, or perhaps muse about theology and deeper things in life I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you. St. Luke JOY is a wonderful, loving, Jesus centered, multi-generational, evangelical community of believers. This family of faith has deeply blessed my families life, and I would love for you to have that same experience.
 Secretary: Marti Mitchell - saintlukejoy@gmail.com
St. Luke JOY Church
4301 NE Vivion Road
Kansas City Missouri 64119
ph.816-453-3741 |
