Back Story
I am David Gaddy. This is likely the fifth blog I have started. My mind goes about 100 MPH and gets very distracted by shiny objects. Thus, a new attempt at a practice of brain dumping, contemplation and self-reflection. I am first a follower of the Way of Jesus. I was asked recently if I am a "born-again or evangelical Christian." Those terms can carry so much baggage for many people and honestly I carry some weird feelings with those terms as well. I am also a husband, dad, pastor and math teacher.
For a long time, I believed that being a youth pastor or lead pastor was all that I was ever going to do with my life. In 2018, things began. My thoughts on theology and Christianity were changing, life was changing, and I could not seem to fit in to the church I was working in at the time. After much soul searching, I left. I dropped all that I knew to be as a calling and occupation and took a different route.
Luckily, my parents forced me to have a back up plan. I have a degree in Mathematics along with my Masters in Divinity. I was heavily involved with a local high school here in Burlington, NC. When they heard I was looking for a math position, they hired me almost on the spot.
This is where my new journey begins. Two years later, I have been in two different schools teaching Math 1 to low-performing math students. Oddly enough, I have had more sacred conversations in these last two years than I have had in a long time. Someone told me that I would never leave youth ministry. You never drop the title as pastor. I look back now and see that to be true. I just get to do it every day and teach a little math too. To be quite honest, we talk more life than we do math.
Oh, and I thought I was done with ministry and such in a church context. NOPE! I think God was just preparing me for the next place I was supposed to land and help create. This blog will also include my journeys with Storied Church as well. Storied is a progressive United Methodist Church start in Mebane NC. We seek to be bold with our love, courageous with our stories, embrace all people, and foster an inclusive community of people to connect with each other and the Divine.
I know people rarely read and rarely read blogs if they do. However, if you chose to read, just know I appreciate it and would love to hear your voice in all of this. I am rarely short and sweet. Typically I can formulate a good thought, but sometimes it takes peeling away some layers.
So here we go. Let's journey together looking at life with fresh eyes.
For a long time, I believed that being a youth pastor or lead pastor was all that I was ever going to do with my life. In 2018, things began. My thoughts on theology and Christianity were changing, life was changing, and I could not seem to fit in to the church I was working in at the time. After much soul searching, I left. I dropped all that I knew to be as a calling and occupation and took a different route.
Luckily, my parents forced me to have a back up plan. I have a degree in Mathematics along with my Masters in Divinity. I was heavily involved with a local high school here in Burlington, NC. When they heard I was looking for a math position, they hired me almost on the spot.
This is where my new journey begins. Two years later, I have been in two different schools teaching Math 1 to low-performing math students. Oddly enough, I have had more sacred conversations in these last two years than I have had in a long time. Someone told me that I would never leave youth ministry. You never drop the title as pastor. I look back now and see that to be true. I just get to do it every day and teach a little math too. To be quite honest, we talk more life than we do math.
Oh, and I thought I was done with ministry and such in a church context. NOPE! I think God was just preparing me for the next place I was supposed to land and help create. This blog will also include my journeys with Storied Church as well. Storied is a progressive United Methodist Church start in Mebane NC. We seek to be bold with our love, courageous with our stories, embrace all people, and foster an inclusive community of people to connect with each other and the Divine.
I know people rarely read and rarely read blogs if they do. However, if you chose to read, just know I appreciate it and would love to hear your voice in all of this. I am rarely short and sweet. Typically I can formulate a good thought, but sometimes it takes peeling away some layers.
So here we go. Let's journey together looking at life with fresh eyes.
Comments
Post a Comment