Picture from: Meet The Baresel's - Ice Cream Social

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

I was born in Toronto, Canada, but my folks moved to Southern California when I was three. I made the journey in the back of a VW bug tucked in the space behind the back seat. I cut my teeth on Baptist hymnals and count it a privilege that I grew up in a Christian home. I came to personal faith in Christ in the fourth grade although I never remember a time when I didn’t feel connected to Christ and His church. I experienced a “Leave it to Beaver” childhood (seriously dating myself here!), and had the opportunity to excel in a few non-Southern California sports such as short-track speed skating, ski racing on the Junior circuit, and I took up fencing in college (swords, not bricks!). Currently I’m an avid cyclist, and my favorite sports season is Fall when college football reigns on Saturday. My wife, Teresa, is a bigger football fan than me (guys are now green with envy), and loud cheering (and coaching) is usually coming from her side of the room. We enjoy parenting 7 children, though four of them are married and scattered across the globe. Of the three remaining, two are in college, and the youngest is a junior in high school. Teresa and I enjoy cooking for friends, exploring new places, gardening (Teresa is a master gardener—I am a master mower), the symphony, and photography (Teresa is a professional photographer). We enjoy serving together in local mission opportunities, and have enjoyed mission trips abroad (Panama, Nicaragua). The perfect start to the day is a great cup of coffee with toasted sourdough bread and a touch of butter.

MINISTRY EXPERIENCE

It’s been my joy to serve in a wide variety of ministry opportunities. Yet the most formative experience came prior to any professional ministry. I was invited to lead a home Bible study by a group of co-workers who simply wanted to gather regularly around God’s word. What began as a handful of people in a living room, God grew into a group of around 40 folks from a number of cities. We met at different places every week, but in the space of a year and a half, we saw lots of people come to initial faith in Jesus Christ, we saw faith strengthened in others, and we experienced God’s presence. I had tasted ministry, and I longed for more. As God led me through education and provided opportunities to hone skills in volunteer positions, I developed a passion for seeing changed lives—and that has been my goal in ministry as a Christian Education minister, a youth pastor, a discipleship/evangelism pastor, and it remained as I began leading as Head of Staff in the Midwest. For the last ten years I’ve had the privilege of teaching and serving students at a Christian University in Southern California. God has rekindled that passion for changed lives in me as we anticipate coming to join you in ministry. My prayer is that we are drawn deeper into God’s life, to experience the fullness God makes ours in Christ Jesus, and that more and more people in Lake Forest Park and its surrounding communities hear and receive the gospel of Jesus.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH

The greatest issue facing the church today hasn’t changed since its inception. The church’s greatest challenge is to be an authentic community of faithful people gathered around Jesus Christ. We are imperfect, weak, and fallible, but through the grace of God, the love of the Lord Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are that city on a hill that calls fallen people to the restoring fellowship of union with God. Yet, the church finds itself marginalized in society. The number of people claiming little or no religious affiliation in the United States has increased over the past two decades. Most are young adults who view the church as irrelevant. These same people desire community, authenticity, and significant engagement. We find our greatest opportunities within that challenge. We offer encouragement and strength by recognizing the authority of God’s word to shape our lives and transform us from self-absorption to God-centered lives, open to the future God has planned, compassionate towards a world in need, and confident in the gifts and abilities God has invested in us as partners in God’s goal of reclaiming creation. These convictions compel me to base my ministry on the sure foundation of Scripture, teaching and preaching its truths with clarity and passion, striving to “present everyone perfect in Christ,” equipping people for service and leadership, and to pray for God’s people to experience the fullness of God’s presence in their deepening life of faith.

LEADERSHIP STYLE

I am a pastor at heart who practices servant-leadership. I am collaborative, preferring to work as a shepherd within a leadership matrix among a network of leaders serving the faith community. Within that network my focus is transformational. My goals are to move people deeper into the life of God by celebrating what God has already done, expanding vision to see God at work-perhaps in ways not previously considered, and empowering people to respond to God’s call. My style is marked by encouragement as it seeks to release people into ministry using gifts God has given for that purpose. I am relational, and while I am comfortable working within the boundaries of polity, I am a people-person. I want to be engaged in the life of the congregation, staff, and community ever seeking and drawn to the presence of God in others so that we can discern together how God has shaped us to answer the future open before us. As pastor I consider my role to be “keeper and promoter” of the vision God has given to the church family. Through references in sermons, lessons, session meetings, retreats, and newsletter articles, I find ways to keep the vision fresh and in front of the church – myself included – so that the congregation remains faithful to its call.

CHURCH CHARACTERISTICS DESIRED

I am eager to serve God with a church that:
1. Plans worship carefully with services that are creative, directive, dialogic, transcendent, sacramental and formative.
2. Is missional: sent by God into the world, pursuing God’s goal of reclaiming creation.
3. Is grace-filled, seeking to be holy and holistic. It seeks to restore brokenness, to renew the despairing, and to refresh the weary. It recognizes dysfunction, but does not dwell on it. Its goal is to experience and express grace.
4. Is in touch with its community. They are informed and responsive to its needs. They are self-aware and serve from their strengths. They measure success by how many they have touched or served through the week.
5. Pursues spiritual depth. They desire to seek, know, and love God fully through prayer, study, and service.

My gifts are in the areas of preaching and teaching. I have strong administrative skills in the areas of staff development, board relations, strategic planning, vision-centered ministry management and stewardship. My passion and talent is to include visitors and inquirers into the life and ministry of the church. I also have an unequivocal commitment to, promotion of, and participation in global missions. I have a passion to equip people for service and have a sustained commitment to local community service.