The Millennial Pastor: That One Time They Gave Me a Church at 28 Years Old . . . I Can’T Even . . .

By Josiah C. Jones

Millennials dont go to church, much less lead one. Well, maybe most dont. Statistically speaking, millennials are the generation most absent from church congregations across the country. This book is the story of a millennial who decided not to give up on church and instead decided to lead one. The Millennial Pastor is the story of a young pastors first year leading a church, a church that decided it wanted to take a risk and try something new instead of giving up and resigning to the slow decline affecting churches across the USA. Perspectives were challenged, lessons were learned, and in the end, mutual respect and an appreciation were gained across generational boundaries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973606802

Josiah C. Jones

Josiah Jones is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene. He received his degree in Christian Ministries from Point Loma Nazarene University and started working in full-time pastoral ministry shortly after. He is currently a lead pastor, a husband, father and perhaps most pertinent to this book, a Millennial.

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Copyright © 2018 Josiah C. Jones.

Cover art by Kassidy Heal

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-0678-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0679-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0680-2 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/14/2018

Contents

Preface & Such

Chapter 1   You want me to do what?

Chapter 2   They Seriously Gave Me a Church…

Chapter 3   Now What?

Chapter 4   Yes, I really am the Pastor

Chapter 5   I think I Might Be Able To Do This (The stuff I somehow got right #BecauseGod)

Chapter 6   Then I Got To Officiate My First Funeral

Chapter 7   Maybe I like Church?

Chapter 8   Probably The Thing That Inspired Me To Write This Book

Chapter 9   It Just So Happened To Be An Election Year

Chapter 10   The Struggle Is Real #NoRegrets

Chapter 11   Learning To Be Unprepared

Chapter 12   So Now What?

Epilogue

FOR MY FAMILY.

MY WIFE KATELYN AND MY CHILDREN KASEN, LILY AND CALLUM. ALSO, FOR MY PARENTS AND MY BROTHERS. THANK YOU.

SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN. THANK YOU TO MY WIFE, TO RON, BYRON, WILL AND JASON FOR READING ROUGH DRAFTS. THANK YOU TO MY CHURCH FOR LETTING ME TELL OUR SHARED STORY.

FINALLY, THANK YOU TO NIKKI, CHAD, DIANE, GRACE, JON, JESSICA, CRYSTAL, JAMES, NANA, ANNE MARIE, BRUCE, TRICIA, ANDREW, MELISSA, TRAVIS, CODY, LINDSAY NICOLE, AND DAVE GIPE’S SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS FOR INVESTING IN ME.

THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT.

THANK YOU.

Preface & Such

I just got through the holidays. It’s December 29, 2016, and in about a month, I will have been at my current position as lead pastor of a church for a year.

Oh Mylanta…

They gave me a church!

What a terrifying honor and an amazing experience I have had this past year. But before I get to that, here is a little about me since I’m the one writing this book and such.

My name is Josiah Jones. I am the oldest of four boys, all of which collectively are referred to with affectionate regularity as Those Jones Boys. Being boys and doing boy things meant my mom had a lot with which to contend. Timeless visits to the ER with each of us meant that she is tough as nails. Not only did she (and my father) deal with our medical issues, she also kicked breast cancer’s butt (with some help from above), and even gave birth to two of us without any pain meds. My dad might be even tougher. He exemplifies the American dream. He owns his own successful business, which he started from nothing. He has been the sole provider for our family since 1982 and continues to be even today. He is still working, which at his age (56) and his line of work (construction) says a lot about who he is.

My parents have everything to do with who I am today, for better and for worse. Being the oldest I was the guinea pig, as all oldest siblings are. My parents learned what kind of parents they were going to be through trial and error on me. Honestly, they did an awesome job. Not because I think I am anything special but because of the home where I grew up. As I said, my mom and dad embody the American Dream, and our home was much the same. We had three hot meals a day, a roof over our heads, clothes that fit, vehicles that worked and strict rules.

One of those rules was that we went to church every time the family went, which was often. A typical week would consist of going to church on Sunday morning and evening as well as Wednesday night. That may not sound like a lot but when you consider the fact that the average church attender today makes it to church maybe once a month* it’s above average? That on top of the fact that it was a thirty-minute trip one way meant that some weeks it felt like church took up all my free time. Some weeks we were there every day because my parents were in that season’s drama (Easter play, Christmas play, etc.) and the choir director had what was called I Own You week in the week leading up to opening night. So basically, church was part of my life whether I chose for it to be or not.

The church I grew up in was pretty stereotypical. The vast majority of parishioners were over 60 years old. The small youth ministry we did have sometimes felt separated from the rest of what happened at the church. Our youth room was as far from the sanctuary as it could possibly be, while still remaining in the same building. It wasn’t just that they wanted us far away, it was that they seemed to dislike us, to make it a point to show that we were a nuisance. I regularly had an older gentleman come in during our Sunday School hour to protest the worship band music which was part of what the youth did during Sunday mornings. I played guitar for the youth band and as I was tuning the guitar that particular morning this man walked in. He made sure to get my attention. He didn’t know my name but he yelled something to make me look up. Once I looked in his direction he started cupping his ears with his hands and made a face of complete disgust as if to say the sounds I was making with my guitar and/or the music the student worship band played was personally offensive to him. We were no strangers to receiving complaints about being too loud, being distracting, or just being too teenager-y. My response speaks to how I felt about it. We were under strict rules to have the PA turned down to so many decibels, but it just so happened that this particular Sunday I had brought a guitar amp. This meant the sound guy did not have complete and total power over me. It also meant I controlled how loud I was. So naturally, I decided to make this man earn his ear covering protest.

As they say, I turned it up to eleven and rocked!

I grew up associating church with getting in trouble, with being a bother, with rules and dressing in uncomfortable clothes. In the midst of this God called me to be a pastor…

I said no…

At first…

Seems like there might be a cautionary tale about a guy who said no to God’s calling…

Anyway, I said no at first, but it didn’t take. I made the mistake of telling my youth pastor at the time (I was called at the age of 14) and he made it his personal mission to make sure that I pursued my call. He also may have played a part in saving church for me (thanks dude). On his own dime, he took me to a university that had a School of Theology. My parents couldn’t afford it but I ended up going to the school regardless.

I’m still paying it off #SchoolDebtIsPoopy…

Remember how I said my parents made me who I am? That my mom was tough? How my dad was tougher and also pretty stubborn? Well, they didn’t want me to go. It was perhaps the first test of my calling, the sink or swim moment, the affirmation that it was real or the proof that it was all in my head. Whether they realized it or not, they were helping me cultivate the pastor I would become, the man who tries his best to stick to what he believes, no matter what others say. I’m stubborn in part because my dad is stubborn. I have dealt with life circumstances (we’ll get to some) that have given rise to others labeling me tough or resilient in part because of my mother’s toughness that she passed on to me. I hadn’t given up on church because a youth pastor showed me how it was still worth fighting for. I have close friends who have been in leadership roles in the church. Some are still serving in spite of the challenges, while others have been burned one too many times and question if the church is worth it.

Today I am the lead pastor of a little church in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. I have been married eight years to the best decision I ever made, my beautiful wife Katelyn! She is more than just a pretty face, she is also the most thoughtful, caring and intelligent person I know! Plus she is the best parent ever! I also have two adorable, cute, conniving, too-smart-for-their-own-good kids who are equal parts amazing/terrors that I love. My son will be five in less than a week and in about two weeks my daughter will be three. Oh, and I have a third on the way, due June 2017!

I am a father, I am a son, I am a disciple, a mentor, friend and a husband. I am also a Millennial who decided to pursue my calling, to not give up on this thing we call church, because I believe it’s the best thing we have.

St. Augustine is credited with a quote that completely articulates my feelings on church. It speaks to the truth of church being less than perfect, but still the one thing that can draw us closer to our creator. Instead of using the quote, I would like to instead attempt to coin my own phrase that says the same thing, only from the perspective of a millennial.

The church can be a pretty huge bummer. It can be the most hypocritical, judgmental, and unloving entity some people will ever have the misfortune of interacting with… But, it is still the bride of Christ. It is still that which the Son of God created so that His love and grace could be received and experienced by all who interact with Him because of his church.

Because the church is full of people, it is imperfect, but it was made by a perfect God. That makes it complicated, which in turn is why my opinion of it and my relationship with it is also quite complicated. It’s the best/worst thing we have, and it’s worth being part of because God tells us that when we gather together in His name, He will be there also.

I am a millennial, I am a pastor and this is the story of my first year being a lead pastor.

1

You want me to do what?

I’m on the phone with the DS (District Superintendent) in the Pacific Northwest. For those of you who don’t know what a DS is, he is the basic equivalent to a Bishop in the Catholic Church. These are men or women who have been in the ministry for a long period of time and are now overseeing numerous pastors and their churches across large areas. Some of the districts are portions of states, others are entire states, and some are more than one state.

This particular DS is in charge of all of western Washington. He called me to ask permission to give a church my resume and at some point in our conversation, I hear the words lead pastor. From that point on, I’m not 100% sure what was said.

Let me rewind for a second and set the stage for why this guy is calling me, and by rewind, I mean why I became a pastor in the first place.

It all started when I was 14 sitting in the tabernacle of my childhood Christian campground. The preacher was saying what I’m sure were a lot of good words about Jesus and stuff but I was distracted by the cute girl sitting by me. Deep in thought, contemplating my next move to assure that I would not leave camp without a token camp girlfriend, something snapped me back to reality. What did the preacher just say?

Wait… what? That sounded kind of important. Hold on, did he just say that to me? Maybe I should pay attention…

Then it hit me. He was talking to me. Well, not literally, but figuratively. The preacher said, …and someday some of you will be standing here where I am. Some of you will become the pastors of the churches you have grown up in. Some of you will be the worship leaders, the youth pastors, etc.

Then I heard God say: He’s talking about you!

I honestly felt sick to my stomach.

There I am sitting minding my own business, carefully crafting my next pick-up line. Hoping it would work, which would allow me to walk around camp holding a girl’s hand… and God has to go and CHANGE MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!!

Okay, fast forward a couple years for a minute. I do eventually get the girl (not the same one but one so much better it’s kind of ridiculous), marry her, earn a degree in Christian Ministries and set off to pursue this so-called call that God has placed on my life. Then I spend the next four years in full-time ministry. All the while, I serve in various associate roles as either a youth, young adult or a worship pastor.