Personal Statement

Shortly after I made the life altering decision to surrender my life to Christ I felt an intense recognition of God’s plan for my life as it was no longer mine, but His. I surrendered to this allowing Him to lead and guide me in the direction He wanted. The Holy Spirit had given me the gift of vision and had blessed me with a foresight which a taste of my purpose. It was about helping the broken and hurting, the abused and neglected, the addicted and suffering. I knew my purpose was a leadership role as I have always been a leader though as one who leads by example and who is in the trenches with those working. I did not dare, though, to think I would be in ministry as a Pastor at that time. That realization would come years later whilst I

So then as my time in community college was coming to a close my advisor casually mentioned North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. I felt led to apply and attend with the intention of a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology as my goal. However, as I met with my academic advisor I saw there was program for Religious Studies. I thought to myself what a great opportunity to become more knowledgeable about my faith. During the time I spent at North Carolina Wesleyan I began to feel a much deeper and more defined call to ministry. I began to feel a call to the small town rural church. I had the opportunity to assist a lay minister in leading worship at a tiny rural church that had once been a thriving country church. It was that day that cemented in my thoughts where I was called to be a minister and to whom I was called to minister. My prayers for the Lord to lead me, guide me and show me where He needed me to be had been answered. I began the process to become a Certified Candidate for Ministry with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church before I graduated from N.C. Wesleyan in December of

Saliers entitled Worship Come to Its Senses. The premise of the book is to bring the senses of awe, wonderment, and hope back into our Christian liturgy of today. So many times in church it seems like these things have been left by the wayside we see the youth of today who would rather be playing on their cell phones or the older adults taking a nap instead of being enraptured by the Word that is being proclaimed. Saliers discusses ways of exploring our four ‘senses’ of God. The four ‘senses’ are awe, delight, truth and hope. I, as new clergy, desire to bring these ‘senses’ into each of my sermons. I desire to awaken the congregations of my churches to feel the presence of God amongst us each Sunday. This book has opened my eyes to a fresh prospective, something even deeper, something almost primal and instinctive about prayer, worship and acknowledging the presence of God in all that I