The Graves Family and Otter Creek

Today, Kara and I made public our new adventure (not to be confused with the Lucas Adventure). Beginning late summer, Kara and I will join the mission of the Otter Creek Church in Nashville, TN. This was a very difficult decision. We prayed. Cried. Discussed. Listened. Sought wisdom from mentors. Prayed some more. We feel God has called us to this new leadership role.

Leaving Rochester Church and Rochester College will not be easy. This has been a formative church. I was baptized in this church. I was married, to Kara, in this church family. Kara feels at home here; she has tremendous relationships. Both of our families live here. Yet, we believe God is working in all of this.

I will serve in the role as preaching and teaching minister. I will be the point/lead for the preaching and teaching that takes place at OC. In addition, I will be working alongside David Rubio, well-known OC youth minister, who will be transitioning to a new role. David and I will form the Otter Creek preaching/teaching team. David will also work in adult ministry. The team approach has worked well in the other churches I've been closely connected to (me and Patrick at Rochester; Rubel Shelly and John York at Woodmont Hills). I look forward to working with the OC shepherds as well as David, Janet, Melanie, TJ, Doug, Phil, Murray, Steve, Vicki, Donna, Emma, and Becca.

The Otter Creek elders have a vision I'm excited about joining. I will write more about this in the coming months. They want to continue to be Christ' church in the community, taking risks to see more people come to see the Jesus Story as The Story.

The Rochester Church leadership team (elders and ministers) has been a rewarding team to work with. We've taken a lot of risks, doing things that most churches (in our denomination) are not willing to do for the sake of the kingdom. It's been a great joy to work alongside the elders along with Patrick, Jason, John, Chris, Dana, Karen, Sara, Kelly, Trudy, and Beth. Very few people get to wake up every day loving their vocation.

The immediate real adventure, becoming parents, should happen any day now. Just as we get the hang of that, we'll begin the journey to join the Otter Creek family for this new chapter.