I’m heading out of the blessed journey through this epistemilogical creature known as vocational ministry. Plainly put, I resigned as pastor of Calvary Worship Center. I came to CWC in 1993, fresh out of college with a pregnant wife and the promise of a volunteer position as a children’s minister in a church with few children. I was hoping to get into youth (teen) ministry but here, I was going to have to deal with people a bit smaller to start with. We were ready to give birth to some dreams (as well as a child) and we were excited beyond words. The fact that we were going to be able to devote our lives to nurture a Christlike nature in those kids as well as ourselves was a gift from God. We moved into the converted garage of some wonderful people in the hill country and I got a job at Mr. Gatti’s making 4.75 an hour. The church had an ambitious 30 something pastor, Randy Feldschau, who preached to 40 like he was preaching to 4,000. He was an amazing communicator. Rounding out the staff was, minister of evangelism, Tom Winslow. A tall ‘seasoned’ man with snow white hair and the friendliest eyes God ever made. Our first youth service happened more than 6 months after we first arrived. Six of the kids in children’s church were going into middle school in the fall of 94 which meant that we now had our youth group. Audrey, Melissa, Justin, Amy, Ashley, and DJ made up the very first youth service. Courtney, Josh, Joe, and many other characters would come along over the years. There were dozens of young people who came and went and I can say with confidence that every one of them made a lasting impression on me to the extent that I could write an entertaining blog entry about each one. I was honored to be a part of their lives and count that season as a personal high point. In July of 1998, Pastor Feldschau resigned. I assumed the role in November of that year. Since then, we have seen this church through weddings and funerals, an all consuming construction project, economic famine and feast, staff additions and subtractions, and various ministerial projects. People have asked me some pointed and sentimental questions in the past few days, forcing me to recall things I have long forgotten. All those dreams that we had of an idealistic sacrificial existence that would display God’s love to the hurting, demonstrate His power to the broken, and teach His ways to the learning, have all but disappeared. Perhaps one day God will see fit to raise them up again. For now, I’m content to have been a part of something bigger than myself. This entry does no justice to the past 12 years. There’s just too much to recount. So for now, I’ll just say here’s to the close of this chapter in my life. Goodbye and goodnight.