From Foundation to Fruition

     As many of you know, I am going to school to answer God's call to become a pastor which would not have been made possible without these three men in the above picture. Some may call them the three stooges, but to me they are so much more than that. These are the three pastors that I have had growing up at Randolph Memorial Baptist Church. These are who I looked at as role models of what a minister looks like and I am so thankful that all three of them took their job seriously so that transitioning into the role of a minister will hopefully be a smooth one for me.

     From the time I was a small child, the members and leaders of Randolph Memorial have been there to support each other and to encourage one another in the good times and to hold one another up in the storms that life brings that try so hard to knock us off of our feet! I am thankful that our church was built on a firm foundation and not shifting sand! I'm thankful that I have grown up in a church where every calling is equal where a minister is not looked at better than a teacher or doctor. I'm thankful that little boys and girls in our church are taught to follow their dreams and that they will be accepted for who they are.

     Rev. Grant Carter was the first pastor that I ever knew and served as the pastor of our church from 1988-2004! Rev. Carter showed our congregation the love of Jesus and built the foundation of Christianity that allowed my continual growth as years have passed. Grant took the model of Jesus seriously by making sure that the children of the church felt loved and accepted through making us a part of worship and through his weekly childrens sermons as well as his dedication and excitement for Vacation Bible School each year.

     The second pastor in this picture is Rev. Mark Beck. Mark was an interim pastor who pastored at our church for 2 years. During that time Mark had a huge impact on my life because as an awkward middle schooler with so much change going on Mark was there as a constant for our congregation which I am very thankful for. As the tectonic plates of Randolph Memorial were shifting and our church leadership almost completely changed during those two years, Mark was there and helped that transition period to go smoothly which was such a huge blessing for our entire congregation. It was during Mark's time as our pastor that I was baptized and really started to take seriously the words that were preached in church and taught in youth and Sunday School. It was during those years that I first felt that still small voice inside inching me towards becoming a minister. Mark's sermons were ones that everyone could relate to as his job as a counselor and pastor were seen intertwined into his sermons and through his daily life.

     The third pastor who has had an influential role in my life and the llife and growth of our church is Dr. Derik Hamby who is our current pastor. Derik has shown our congregation the love of Christ but also has challenged us to not remain surface level Christian's but to rather take that deeper plunge in order to achieve greater growth. I'm thankful for Derik and his affirmation of me becoming a pastor because without that encouragement I don't know that I would be pursuing that call. I'm thankful that Randolph Memorial is a place where I can grow and is a safe place for me to learn how to become an effective minister in a non-threathning or criticizing environment. Derik has helped me to understand that women just as well as men can be pastors and leaders of churches which I have always known but had never been verbalized to me before that point.

     This summer I have the opportinity to be an intern alongside Derik and the other staff members of our church through the Congregational Collegiate Internship through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. I am thankful that the CBF does this program to help ministers in training have the ability to not just see the pretty parts of ministry but also all of the hard work that goes into making a church a growing and thriving place to be. I'm thankful that I have wonderful ministers to work alongside and that they are wonderful examples of taking the gospel seriously and loving everyone who walks into the doors of our church but more importantly who love those who have never and may never step foot into our building. I'm thankful and blessed beyond words that I serve in a church where we serve our church members, community, state, country, and world through mission offerings as well as supporting missionaries through finanical means but most importantly through prayer and constant encouragement.

      Another very important role model in my life is my uncle Rev. David Fitzgerald who is the Minister of Music at Wake Forest Baptist Church in North Carolina. As a kid growing up some of my favorite memories were going to see my Uncle David in his element and to see the hard work that he had put forth in order to glorify God through his cantata's, youth plays and musicals, and piano concerts. Having a minister in my family made it easy for me to fall into that role as well because it wasn't something new, rather someone else filling those shoes and continuing that legacy.

     I just finished my sophomore year of college at Carson-Newman College in TN where I am double majoring in Religion and Human Services. It is there that I found my comfort zone where I could grow and be challenged in ways that I never would have imagined and I have been encouraged by professors, staff members, and other students. In 2 years Carson-Newman has become my second home and a place that I will be forever thankful for. It was at Carson-Newman that I first saw a woman preach and it just happened to be Rev. Julie Pennington Russell during the Ashe-Henderson Lectures of 2011. It was at that point that God used her in a way to make me confident and finally accept the call on my life to become a pastor and since then I have preached two sermons and will preach three more this summer.

    I am forever grateful for the people who have taken a chance on me and saw and showed me gifts in myself that I didn't see until they pointed them out. To my pastors, family, professors, and the many others who have been there and affirmed me, THANK YOU!