Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork—Super Cool Person of the Week
I never will forget a chilly southern night in 1998—I sat in a local coffee shop with some friends and began to cast the vision of what I felt God had placed in my heart—to start a church that would be like nothing else we had ever seen. (We had NO IDEA!!!)
One of the people in that conversation was a dude majoring in Chemical Engineering at Clemson named Ken; in fact, he and his girlfriend, Meg, were both there and immediately became excited.
Ken & Meg were in the core group that began NewSpring—Ken played in the band, served on the hospitality team, assisted in arranging the worship music, helped with computer issues, became an elder—did I mention he was in college? He was one of those guys that, upon thinking about him, I would pray, “God—please let us keep Ken forever.” He’s one of those dudes that, as a pastor, you know if you had more people like him that you could change the world. (We are seeing that—thank you Jesus!)
God has a sense of humor!
We made the move from a room that sat around 150 people to an auditorium that sat over 1,100 in the fall of 2001. We had major issues that had to be dealt with—computer issues, sound issues, web issues…and Ken and his WIFE (he married Meg) were neck deep in ministry at NewSpring.
Ken had graduated and was now working full time as an engineer at a local plant. (We were excited—he could now tithe!!!) Things were going great…and then Ken was informed one day that his plant was closing and…he COULD keep his job…IF he moved to Columbia.
I was crushed! Call me selfish—I will accept that—I just knew that it would take 10 people to replace Ken and Meg. I prayed that they would not go…that something else would open up…but they packed up a moving truck and they, along with their two hyper cats, left for Cola.
We stayed in touch over the next year—NewSpring was still near and dear to his heart. He immediately became involved in a church plant in Cola—but he would comment from time to time about wanting to be at NewSpring.
Funny how God works…
The plant he was working in was very demanding and Ken was working 70-80 hours a week—it was draining. Other job opportunities became available…and he began seeking to come back somewhere to the upstate.
At the same time NewSpring needed to hire someone to come in and handle our computers, do some web stuff, do the presentations for Sunday’s—the stuff that Ken had been doing as a volunteer before he left.
So we offered Ken a job…and what we could afford to pay was HALF of another job he had been offered…I think it was something to do with designing toilets. Obviously he accepted the job at NewSpring…which made me feel good that we won out over something you tee tee in!
I can honestly say that Ken is an MVP! He is a student of his job…he reads, goes to on-line forums, has a network of “nerds” that he talks with on a frequent basis…and continues to do amazing thing. He was not an expert when we hired him—but his willingness to learn has been noticed—the quality of his work has always amazed us—and it just keeps getting better, so much so that people are now seeking his advice and opinions on the visual aspects of a worship service.
Most of you who attend NewSpring have never seen Ken, he is a behind the scenes dude. He leads one of the most incredible teams in our church—the production team. (I call them the geek squad—and they wear that badge with honor. From time to time I will step up to see what is going on in their area and they are using terminology that I do not understand…so I smile and act like I know what’s going on…and pray they don’t ask me anything about “ram” or a “megabyte.”)
Ken also is the one who designed this blog. (Thanks dude!) He also has a blog that I highly recommend you check out—here it is. On here he has a lot of the work that he has done over the past year—check it out.
Oh yeah—on top of being in love with Jesus…Ken married Meg (as I mentioned earlier) and I can honestly say they are one of the most unique couples I have ever seen…that is another story altogether. Meg also has a website—you can check it out here.
AND they have a son named Gardner…we call him “Little G.” He’s probably one of the coolest, most relaxed kids I have ever seen…and he LOVES his mom & dad!
Pastors, when making a hire—my advice is don’t look for degrees—some of them are not even worth the piece of paper they are printed on! Don’t look for someone with tons and tons of experience—while they will help—they might not be in line with the vision God has given your church. Look for someone like Ken—who has a heart for Jesus, loves his family…and loves the church and is willing to do what it takes to make sure that the Gospel is communicated in a creative and relevant manner.
Thanks Ken for all that you do…NewSpring is where it is today because of Jesus working through you! You rock! (You too Meg!!!)