I know what you’re thinking. Hasn’t Cullen been here since he was 9 years old? With a beard?

Actually, he was a junior in high school. And yes, he had a beard already. He MAY have started coming to Western Hills because of a certain “cute little red-head girl,” but he stuck around, deepened his walk with Jesus, got baptized, eventually married that cute little red-head, became an intern, and graduated from seminary all here at Western Hills Church. So it does feel like he’s been around since he was 9.

We are going to being seeing more of Cullen, as we are bringing him on staff full-time starting in July. He will be our Student and Serve All Pastor. Over the last 4 years, we’ve watched Cullen grow in his faith and in his leadership as a Pastoral Intern. He’s been an integral part of our Serve All (Missions) Team and our Student Ministry. The call of God is so evident on his life, and we just feel so privileged to be in a position to do this.

He’s already been functioning as our Student Pastor this past year, and we’ve been amped to see him flesh out his Kingdom/discipleship heart in a fun, engaging way. As part of his Serve All responsibilities, we will have a person at Western Hills to give dedicated leadership and focus to our ongoing and growing ministry partnerships. Cullen will provide some leadership and support to our school partnerships, Upward Sports, and help us continue to keep emphasis on being an outward focused church.

Finally, allow me a moment to brag. It’s pretty awesome to see someone come to faith, grow in their faith, be called to ministry, and then finally have the opportunity to fulfill that calling vocationally inside the same church. A lot of things have to happen in order for that to happen. There has to be a church that fundamentally believes in engaging people with the story of Jesus. That church has to be okay with the messy process of discipleship. That church has to have financial resources to invest in young leaders. That church has to be committed to providing opportunities for young leaders. That church has to LOVE seeing people on the journey with Jesus no matter where they are.

Any of these things ringing a bell? No church is perfect… and Western Hills isn’t either. But I love our people. I love our leaders. I love that we are the kind of church where this can happen. I love that we are committed to continue to get better at these things as well.

So while bringing Cullen on staff is a celebration of him, it’s also a celebration of you and how you continue to allow God to show off.

See ya’ Sunday.