Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Walls We Share

I've recently caught myself saying something when in conversations with people.  It goes something like this: "I just can't believe that I get to share a wall with him."

See I currently "share a wall" with Pastor Chris Lyons.  Now that name may be mean nothing to you but to me it means something to me.  I have worked with Pastor Chris for just over six years now and for the last two years Chris has been extremely helpful to me as a pastoral leader.  Now you may not know but Chris has been in ministry for over 55 years now!  He has served at only four churches during his time in ministry.

He started out his pastoral leadership in a church called West Church which is located in Peabody Massachusetts where he served for 15 years.  After growing that church he took a year off and then was asked to lead Wheaton Bible Church (yep, you read that right).  Pastor Chris lead that church for 15 years also.  From there he went to the Bay Area and lead a church called Redwood Chapel for 15 years.

After completing his leadership at Redwood Chapel Pastor Chris came out to South Hills to help our church feel more like a church and less like a youth group on steroids.  Pastor Chris was on staff prior to my invitation to join the team here and I am very thankful for his leadership.

Most days in the office I spend about 15-30 minutes (sometimes longer) with Pastor Chris talking about ministry, leadership, counseling situations and life.  I am so thankful to have a leader like Pastor Chris that I get to work alongside.  The question I leave you with is: "Who do you share a wall with and what can you learn from them?"  Maybe you are on the side of the wall like Pastor Chris is and you have some rad stuff to teach the younger generation.  We need that!  We need to have more seasoned leaders teaching us, training us and helping us as we follow God and seek to lead the lost to Christ.

2 comments:

Dana said...

I have a special place in my heart for Pastor Chris. :) Not only was he my pastor during my time at Redwood Chapel but his teaching was the driving force behind my dad coming to Christ! Hugs to Connie and Chris for their amazing hearts to ministry.

Neal Benson said...

He is so amazing. I never knew that he was key in leading your dad to Christ. That is so cool!
We miss you guys!