Background

Steve and Greg have lived in Southwest Ohio for most of their lives. Steve had been the Youth Pastor at Tri-County Baptist Church since 1993 where Greg and Stephanie were also members since 2005. They became friends when Greg joined Steve’s Thursday morning Bible study group in the spring of 2009. By the summer, Greg was discerning a call to ministry and pursuing some teaching opportunities given to him by the Assistant Pastor at Tri-County. In the fall of 2009, Steve asked Greg to assist him as a volunteer leader in the youth ministry. They served together in the youth ministry until March of 2010.

Steve and Greg first discussed possible future ministry plans in the fall of 2009 before a youth group meeting. During that time, Steve talked about a growing desire to pastor a church and a long-standing desire to one day live and minister in Colorado. In one conversation, he mentioned the possibility of planting a new church there. Over the next several months, Greg prayed for Steve and Anne regarding this possible ministry direction. Through this, he also began to discern his own desires to be a witness for Christ in Colorado. After weeks of prayer, Greg talked to his wife, Stephanie, about his growing desire for this ministry. She began to pray about it and, in a short time, shared in these desires. At the same time, God was stirring in Steve and Anne’s hearts to move forward in pursuit of planting a church. They all talked about it one night after a youth group meeting in January of 2010. Within a month, Steve was making some phone calls to church planting groups in Colorado and the two families began planning and praying together.

Steve and Greg both desired to plant a biblical, elder-led church and soon realized the benefit of having a plurality of elders even in the early planning stages. As they considered this, they had already been praying about the form of Greg’s involvement with the church plant. With careful discernment and some additional counsel, they concluded that they would both serve as co-planters and elders in the church. Since that time, it has become evident that God has gifted them in complementary ways and he has been gracious in bringing them to one mind on decisions and direction for the church.