NewLife Community Church

An Open Letter To Isaac

Dear Isaac,

I've said this before (both in private & public) - I'm majorly bummed that you & your wonderful family are leaving us. At the same time, I'm excited for the adventure you're about to undertake together - finding a church home that allows all of you to plug into your community in ways that transform not only your lives but the lives of people around you.

I want to say a huge "thank you" for the way you have selflessly shared your gifts & talents here @ NewLife - for almost two years on staff but for many years before that as a volunteer. Your warmth, your humor, your love for youth, for young adults & most of all for Jesus Christ combined to help make a God-sized dent in a bunch of lives... including mine.

We will miss you & Lydia & Johnny & Leila... your family has been an important part of the life of this church. I'm glad y'all will be staying close by so we don't lose touch.

Most of all, I want to say "thank you" for being a man of God whose integrity & character have encouraged & challenged me... and countless others. Well done, Isaac, well done.

in Christ,

Mark (aka pastor guy)

A Little Bit About Marshall Pulliam

We're going to be voting Sunday night @ Cool Summer Nights on Marshall coming as our part-time worship pastor... so here's some bullet points about him!

• Age: 26
• How long have you been a follower of Christ? 9 years
• How long have you been a worship leader? 6-7 years
• Are you married? not yet
• What instruments do you play? guitar & drums
• What artists (Christian & secular) have influenced you the most? Shane and Shane, Chris Tomlin, Passion, Vineyard worship, Caedmon's Call, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Third Eye Blind, Gavin DeGraw, Sam Cook, Jackie Wilson

Marshall graduated from Central High in 2000. He played in a Christian rock band called Absent Stone, releasing a CD & touring from 2001-2003. He graduated from the Police Academy in 2004 and served as a Reserve Police Office from 2004-2008. He was also a volunteer intern at New Covenant Church from 2002-2004, then as a paid intern from 2006-2008.

Marshall is involved in Mixed Martial Arts. He was fighting up until this year, when he decided to become a personal trainer and teach MMA. He also helped open a non-profit MMA school as a ministry at New Covenant.

Currently, he works as a personal trainer teaching MMA, as well as leading worship for the main service at New Covenant twice a month, and every Thursday for the college/young adults group.

Marshall believes God is calling him to be involved in a church plant in Utah that will be starting in the fall of 2010. Therefore, we will voting on calling/hiring him for one year as our part-time worship pastor.

Personal Testimony

I've been following the Lord faithfully for about 8 years now. I had a rough childhood, in which I moved around a lot, and had a lot of anger issues and problems in school. By high school, sports kept me in line, although I was still into the sex, drugs, and rock n roll thing. My senior year I slowly started waking up to the fact that God wanted more from this life for me than temporal happiness. After the drunk driving death of 2 friends, and the imprisonment of another, I accepted an invitation to church. God spoke to me and I accepted His gift of grace and eternal life, and abandoned the life I knew.

Aaron's Last Night

We had a great Cool Summer Nights service last night as Aaron & the NewLife @ Nite band played - and then we got to say "thank you" to Aaron for his faithful service to NewLife over the last three years.

And then we went swimming... and because we are who we are, we ate a lot!

Moving On

Yesterday during our worship gatherings, our worship/youth pastor, Aaron Kellar, let all of us know that he & his family will be moving back to Portland, Oregon, this summer. Here's a quick list of important stuff about that move.

• Aaron & Margaret are following the call of God to be close to family & to explore some new opportunities in ministry.
• This isn't about money - Aaron is not moving to a "better" position.
• The decision to move was made more difficult by their love & affection for the folks here at NewLife - this has been a great experience for them.
• Margaret & the girls will be here through early July; Aaron will help get them moved & then return for about a month. HIs last Sunday with us will probably be in mid-August.
• If you want to ask Aaron more about this move & the decision-making process, he's open to questions. You can e-mail him or give him a call at the church office (266-2513).

In case you're wondering, here's what I (Mark, aka pastor guy) am thinking/feeling:

• I'm really going to miss Aaron - he's not only made a huge difference in the life & worship services of NewLife, he's also been a good friend & a great guy to work with.
• I'm praying that the folks here at NewLife will continue to love & care for the Kellar's in our final few months with them like you have for the previous three years. (It would be really easy to start distancing ourselves from them in preparation for the pain of their moving away - which would really be tough on them.)
• I'm looking forward to finding the person God has for us to take on the worship/youth pastor role - they won't be Aaron, but that's very OK. They'll be who God needs them to be... and that' more than "just alright."

Our regularly scheduled business meeting is THIS Wednesday evening, May 7th, at 5:30 pm (in the social hall). One of the subjects we'll be discussing will be the next steps in searching for a new worship/youth pastor.