I grew up in the small town of Benton, Pennsylvania. From as early as I can remember, we attended a Presbyterian church not far from my house. We attended literally every Sunday. My mom recently gave me a few perfect attendance awards from Sunday School that she had found. This consistent attendance gave me a lot of knowledge about God, but I never developed a true understanding of who He was - I never developed a relationship with Him.
After I went to college, I grew farther and farther away from God. Without my parents with me, I stopped attending church. It wasn't until I met my wife Angie, in college, that I started attending church again, occasionally. Eventually, Angie got hired to play trumpet at Winfield Baptist Church. So, we started attending every week. Regular church attendance was good for me, but I was still lost and believed a superficial knowledge of God was enough.
I remember one sermon in particular by Pastor Corey Mitchell - he was speaking from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter five. God used that sermon to rock my foundation. I started to study the scriptures to try to understand and reconcile what I was hearing. It was during this time that I finally developed a loving relationship with my Lord and Savior.
Sometime after that, I attended a meeting where Pastor Mitchell was casting a vision for the future of Winfield Baptist Church. It was at that meeting that I first heard about his idea to plant a church in Sunbury. As soon as I heard his vision, I knew that I needed to be a part of this movement. Angie and I, and our two boys, joined three other families in leaving Winfield Baptist Church and starting Sunbury City Church.
My hope for the future is that God will do a great work in the city of Sunbury, that He will bring countless people to a loving relationship with Him, and that He will use me and Sunbury City Church to share the Gospel with those in central Pennsylvania.
