Say Hi to Kristin & An Important Consideration When Choosing a College
On September 4, THC hired Kristin Choi to be our first “Assistant”.
Before going any further, I also want to highlight these three individuals:
- David Pak
- Chad Espinoza
- Elaina Perez
Chad was the one that initially set up our mobile app, updated the website, and sent the weekly email newsletter.
David, though he is crazy busy, has been overseeing the Finances of THC. David has been faithfully staring into the abyss of excel spreadsheets for the last several years.
Elaina, my wife (who is pregnant with our third child) was “Kristin” before Kristin. Staying up late to schedule appointments for me, helping with tracking church information, and doing many small things here and there to help THC run more efficiently.
So, I want to thank these three people specifically for your labor of love. When you get a chance thank these three individuals for serving THC.
And I’m grateful that THC is in a financial place to hire someone to help do most of what these three were doing.
I wanted to take some time to explain Kristin’s role so that you guys can be more in the loop and pray with more knowledge about the next steps for THC to grow to all that God wants us to be.
The hiring of Kristin allows me to dedicate more time and energy to the areas of preaching/teaching, to focus on the Shepherds/Family Churches, and to mobilize Church Members towards our church’s mission of reaching the lost and making disciples.
The job description states:
“The Pastoral Assistant works alongside the Lead Pastor to develop systems and structures so that THC operates more effectively to achieve its mission in reaching the lost and making disciples.”
Kristin and I meet each Friday where we plan for the upcoming THC service and upcoming THC events.
Kristin’s role as THC Assistant involves setting up appointments for me, overseeing the website, mobile app, email newsletter, communicating with various serving Team Leads and helping with the planning of certain church events.
She is also going to be overseeing this year’s All-Church Retreat in 2019.
In full disclosure, what happened was that we (THC Finance Team) were looking at two candidates to come on board as an Assistant Pastor. A role that has been void since Pastor Phil left in early 2018. I interviewed two standup men. But what happened was that through that process of interviewing them I came to realize that much of the help I needed could be done by a non-Pastor – it was more administration and organization-related.
Which then led to the idea of hiring an Assistant “in house” – meaning within our church. Someone who is already invested here at THC. Someone who is already a member. Someone who is gifted in these areas of logistics and organization.
And when I came to this realization, multiple people told me, “Kristin!”
And here’s where the story is cool: because, initially, Kristin’s plan was to apply and go to a far-away school this upcoming January 2019.
So, I interviewed Kristin in August for the position and she explained to me that “studying abroad” was very much a possibility. I told her that THC couldn’t hire her for this position if there was a strong possibility that she would be leaving in January because we would be back at square one – looking for someone all over again after a couple of months.
So, I told her to take two weeks to fast and pray. And I did my best to tell her,
“Don’t feel pressured to choose a close school because of this job.”
I told her that she needed to do what she felt God was calling her to do.
And she came back and explained to me that she had come to realize, after prayer and counsel, that this idea of going to a school out-of-state was an idea that was instilled in her while she was younger.
But when she began the application process and was presented with this job opportunity she challenged herself in thinking about why she wanted to go to a college that was further away from home.
She came to realize that she no longer wanted to go to a far-away college. And in her own words she said, “I couldn’t see myself being away from the wisdom and love shared at THC week after week.”
All you young cats in here… there’s a lot of wisdom here. I’m not just saying this because I just want everyone to always stay at THC forever and ever (muahahahaha).
No, go where you sense God calling you.
But what I love about Kristin’s story is that it is to your benefit to heavily consider the importance of a church community to invest in and serve at… this should, definitely, be part of the process when considering where you should go to college.
When considering a college to apply to. We already consider things like the costs of different schools, scholarships available from certain schools, certain programs/majors that some schools offer.
We even consider the “city life” of the college. What’s the weather like? What’s the culture like? How’s the scenery?
And, for many of us, we have this desire to “get away” from our family and hometown to “explore”. For many of us, “going away” for college represents freedom and exciting new experiences.
Now please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.
None of the considerations I mentioned above are inherently wrong or sinful. These are all things one could/should consider. Proper prayer, wisdom, and counsel is necessary as one discerns and wrestles with these factors.
Here is my simple point. I’m suggesting that it would be very wise (and to your benefit) to add “church community” as a viable and valuable consideration as well. This is more important than most of the things mentioned above.
Once again, I’m not saying never study far away from THC. Heck, I left my church when I went to college. All I am saying is to make sure you consider the importance of community, serving, and spiritual growth in your discerning process of where to go.
Never forget that you are a follower of Jesus before you are a student in college. College studies is not a valid excuse to remove yourself from church community and serving. Just like marriage is not an excuse. Just like parenting is not an excuse.
Jesus desires to advance His Kingdom through the local church. Love you guys!
Pastor Mitchell
Before going any further, I also want to highlight these three individuals:
- David Pak
- Chad Espinoza
- Elaina Perez
Chad was the one that initially set up our mobile app, updated the website, and sent the weekly email newsletter.
David, though he is crazy busy, has been overseeing the Finances of THC. David has been faithfully staring into the abyss of excel spreadsheets for the last several years.
Elaina, my wife (who is pregnant with our third child) was “Kristin” before Kristin. Staying up late to schedule appointments for me, helping with tracking church information, and doing many small things here and there to help THC run more efficiently.
So, I want to thank these three people specifically for your labor of love. When you get a chance thank these three individuals for serving THC.
And I’m grateful that THC is in a financial place to hire someone to help do most of what these three were doing.
I wanted to take some time to explain Kristin’s role so that you guys can be more in the loop and pray with more knowledge about the next steps for THC to grow to all that God wants us to be.
The hiring of Kristin allows me to dedicate more time and energy to the areas of preaching/teaching, to focus on the Shepherds/Family Churches, and to mobilize Church Members towards our church’s mission of reaching the lost and making disciples.
The job description states:
“The Pastoral Assistant works alongside the Lead Pastor to develop systems and structures so that THC operates more effectively to achieve its mission in reaching the lost and making disciples.”
Kristin and I meet each Friday where we plan for the upcoming THC service and upcoming THC events.
Kristin’s role as THC Assistant involves setting up appointments for me, overseeing the website, mobile app, email newsletter, communicating with various serving Team Leads and helping with the planning of certain church events.
She is also going to be overseeing this year’s All-Church Retreat in 2019.
In full disclosure, what happened was that we (THC Finance Team) were looking at two candidates to come on board as an Assistant Pastor. A role that has been void since Pastor Phil left in early 2018. I interviewed two standup men. But what happened was that through that process of interviewing them I came to realize that much of the help I needed could be done by a non-Pastor – it was more administration and organization-related.
Which then led to the idea of hiring an Assistant “in house” – meaning within our church. Someone who is already invested here at THC. Someone who is already a member. Someone who is gifted in these areas of logistics and organization.
And when I came to this realization, multiple people told me, “Kristin!”
And here’s where the story is cool: because, initially, Kristin’s plan was to apply and go to a far-away school this upcoming January 2019.
So, I interviewed Kristin in August for the position and she explained to me that “studying abroad” was very much a possibility. I told her that THC couldn’t hire her for this position if there was a strong possibility that she would be leaving in January because we would be back at square one – looking for someone all over again after a couple of months.
So, I told her to take two weeks to fast and pray. And I did my best to tell her,
“Don’t feel pressured to choose a close school because of this job.”
I told her that she needed to do what she felt God was calling her to do.
And she came back and explained to me that she had come to realize, after prayer and counsel, that this idea of going to a school out-of-state was an idea that was instilled in her while she was younger.
But when she began the application process and was presented with this job opportunity she challenged herself in thinking about why she wanted to go to a college that was further away from home.
She came to realize that she no longer wanted to go to a far-away college. And in her own words she said, “I couldn’t see myself being away from the wisdom and love shared at THC week after week.”
All you young cats in here… there’s a lot of wisdom here. I’m not just saying this because I just want everyone to always stay at THC forever and ever (muahahahaha).
No, go where you sense God calling you.
But what I love about Kristin’s story is that it is to your benefit to heavily consider the importance of a church community to invest in and serve at… this should, definitely, be part of the process when considering where you should go to college.
When considering a college to apply to. We already consider things like the costs of different schools, scholarships available from certain schools, certain programs/majors that some schools offer.
We even consider the “city life” of the college. What’s the weather like? What’s the culture like? How’s the scenery?
And, for many of us, we have this desire to “get away” from our family and hometown to “explore”. For many of us, “going away” for college represents freedom and exciting new experiences.
Now please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.
None of the considerations I mentioned above are inherently wrong or sinful. These are all things one could/should consider. Proper prayer, wisdom, and counsel is necessary as one discerns and wrestles with these factors.
Here is my simple point. I’m suggesting that it would be very wise (and to your benefit) to add “church community” as a viable and valuable consideration as well. This is more important than most of the things mentioned above.
Once again, I’m not saying never study far away from THC. Heck, I left my church when I went to college. All I am saying is to make sure you consider the importance of community, serving, and spiritual growth in your discerning process of where to go.
Never forget that you are a follower of Jesus before you are a student in college. College studies is not a valid excuse to remove yourself from church community and serving. Just like marriage is not an excuse. Just like parenting is not an excuse.
Jesus desires to advance His Kingdom through the local church. Love you guys!
Pastor Mitchell
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