About Our Writers:
My name is Luke Currier, I'm twenty three years old. I've lived and worked with ministries in seven states. I'm currently sort of homeless, I say 'sort of' because I have places that I could go if I wanted to, I really don't want to. For the last two years I worked as a Youth Director at a church in Hammond, IN, a town sandwiched between Gary and the south side of Chicago, it was pretty stressful so I'm taking a non traditional, informal sabbatical.
I currently hop trains and hitchhike around the continental U.S. I spend a lot of time writing and learning the violin. I'm also currently a participant in the academy for spiritual formation.
My future Goals include finishing my B.A. at some point in the next two years and then pursuing an M.Div. and ordination.
Previous Contributors:
Nan Hurd is originally from Pace, Florida. After she graduated from high school in 2006 she went to York, England to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). The first seven months of the ten month school was spent listening to lectures with really cool speakers on topics like the Father-heart of God, Hearing the voice of God, Post-Modernism, The Cross, Intercession ad Prayer, Holy Spirit and more. Two out of three weeks involved working with local ministries like a homeless ministry, an elderly center, youth groups, practical work for poor people, and engaging with people coming out of clubs and bars late at night. They lived in houses in the community and got to know each other very well which resulted in lots of peer “iron sharpening iron.” Lastly, they went on two outreaches one to Europe, and one to India. It was an amazing experience that has now opened the door to what her calling is.
Now Nan is still in York, England doing a leadership and pioneering ministries school which trains and supports people in starting new ministries. God’s called her to her current work with women in prostitution. In the next 4 years or so I’m hoping to be starting a ministry doing the same in a red light district somewhere. If you want to check out more about Nan, you can read her blog at: nancyperry.wordpress.com.
Andy graduated from the University of Kansas in 2003 with a Bachelor of General Studies in Film Studies (and so that he can answer your question: Yes, The Godfather is the greatest movie, ever). During the latter half of college Andy began to regularly attend Lawrence First United Methodist Church, which was at the time just starting to form a new Young Adult Group. Through the years our group grew closer together—personally and spiritually—and he became more involved in activities of learning and participation in the church. Andy remarks that, “During of one of the classes, the senior pastor smiled at me after my turn to speak and said: ‘We’ll get ya into seminary, yet.’”
It took years of discernment and conversations with others to get over this barrier, and after coming back from a mission trip in Bay St. Louis right after Hurricane Katrina, and much prayer, he realized that what he wanted to be involved in was a call from God. Andy enrolled at Saint Paul School of Theology in the fall of 2006. At the end of his first year Andy was appointed as a student pastor in the small town of Hiattville, just west of Fort Scott, KS. It was also in this year that he met a fellow student who showed him God and life in ways I had never seen before. After a time of friendship and growing closer together in ministry, spiritual searching, and finally love, they were married July 14, 2008 in the Kresge Chapel of the Saint Paul campus. Now in his 4th and final year of seminary, Andy is looking forward to full-time ministry, and the ways in which God is calling all of us to share love with one another and change the world together.
Aaron is 28 and grew up just North of Dallas in the suburbs of Richardson and Plano. After graduating high school, he attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and received his B.A. in History with minors in Spanish and Philosophy. Immediately following his graduation, he attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 2007.
During his time at Perkins he spent most of his elective courses studying evangelism and postmodern/emerging Christianity. Aaron has spoken at conferences, local churches, and other organization meetings about social justice and young adult involvement as evangelism. Aaron also has a passion for building and fostering authentic community with others. Currently, he serves as the Interim Director of Religious Life and Residence Life Specialist at Southwestern University. Ultimately, Aaron wants to work in university administration .
Aaron has been married to Lacy, his better half, for almost 4 years. They recently gave birth to twin boys. In his free time Aaron enjoys reading, running, arguing about things, and not capitalizing his writing on his personal blog.
Ben Simpson is a Christian, freelance writer, and school bus driver in his hometown of De Soto, Kansas. He has been married to his wife, Molly, for six years. Molly is the campus pastor of the West Campus of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, which is located in Olathe, Kansas.
Ben is working toward the completion of his second Master’s degree at The University of Kansas. He enjoys coffee, conversation, baseball, and time with friends. You can connect with Ben through social media by visiting his website, benjaminasimpson.com.
Mandy Burbank is a 31-year-old wife and mother of three from Montgomery, AL. She has changed a lot since she graduated from Huntingdon College 10 years ago, where she majored in psychology and literature. For instance she now has purple hair.
Mandy loves writing poetry, creating art, cooking challenging recipes, and experiencing new things, especially people and places, flavors, music and ideas. She also enjoys Reality TV that allows people to celebrate and exhibit their art, like Top Chef and So You Think You Can Dance. She finds simple things like children’s cartoons thought-provoking and looks for a spiritual challenge in unexpected places. She finds her greatest joy and inspiration in friendships, new ones made through Facebook or Myspace, as well as lifelong friends and family, but especially the awesome and humbling friendship of Jesus Christ.
Mandy married her high school sweetheart and they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in July. Their favorite pastimes include reading books and watching movies together, especially discovering artistic, creative and original films. An example of a film that she found beautiful is Romeo + Juliet with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, which came out the year she graduated from high school. Even at 18, Mandy passionately believed that no matter how artistically or timelessly it is presented, the romance depicted in Shakespeares famous play isn’t real love at all. She loves to talk frankly to friends about love and relationships, the joys and challenges, and direct them to scripture instead of the world for truth about love.
Mandy used to be afraid to have dreams for the future, because she thought it was better to stay safe than to risk disappointment. She gives her entrepreneur husband and God the credit for opening her eyes to the joy of hoping and wishing and dreaming big. Some dreams she and her husband have tossed around include: becoming movie and food critics, opening a bed-and-breakfast/ art gallery, being live-in counselors for Mercy Ministries, or teaching yoga with a Christian perspective.
Ben Boruff:
In the fall, Ben will start his second year of college at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana majoring in Secondary Education: English. After college, he will – after a great amount of prayer – either pursue a teaching career, or enroll in seminary with the intent of being an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.
He has recently developed a passion for global ministry and social justice. In his past those words seemed like taglines for evangelism and politics. However, he now sees them as ways to better the world. At the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, he was introduced to the global nature of the Body of Christ and since then has tried to educate himself on issues facing his community and communities around the globe.
When not searching for good cheesecake, Ben enjoys reading, writing, and learning how far he can park away from Panera and still connect to their free wireless internet. So far, he’s not had much luck beyond ten yards.
Katie Bishop:
Katie Bishop, 26, lives in Frederick, Maryland with her husband, Chris and daughter, Eden, who is two. Katie serves as a pastor at Garfield United Methodist Church, a small rural congregation of about 80 in worship attendance. She is also the chair of the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s Young Adult Council. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Marymount University in Virginia and a Master’s degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. with a concentration in Youth Ministry. In her spare time, Katie loves being crafty and takes classes from the local arts and crafts store to learn new skills.
Passionate about the renewal of the United Methodist Church, Katie dreams of a day when the pews are full of people drawing back to God. Trusting that this growth will come from local congregations, she has put her prayers, energy and efforts into her local congregation. Katie has chosen to write about healthy relationships, seeing the need for Young Adults in her community (including herself) for balance while serving God and others.
Jeri Katherine Warden:
Jeri Katherine Warden is the daughter of Chaplain Robert Warden and Reverend Patricia Warden. Jeri Katherine graduated from Gardner-Webb University in 2007 with a BA in English. She is entering her third and final year of the Masters of Divinity program at Boston University School of Theology. She is a certified candidate in the South Carolina conference in the United Methodist Church. She has been interning this summer with the Wesley Foundation at the University of Hawaii Manoa on the island of Oahu. Jeri Katherine loves to run, cycle and read, and hopes to combine her passion for athletics and academics with her love, passion and dedication to God in ministry to university students.
Deena Marie Hamilton:
Rev. Deena Marie Hamilton is a 33 year old pastor in the Arkansas Conference. Her current appointment is Mc Cabe Chapel United Methodist Church in North Little Rock, AR. She is also the President/CEO/Owner of New Horizons Foundation, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to the empowerment of young people through education, public health, economic development, and advocacy. She will be graduating from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Nursing in 2010. Her career plan is to become a general nurse practitioner and develop strategic public health and educational ministries in the community. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Philander Smith College, and has two Master degrees from the University of Phoenix in Business Administration and Healthcare Management.
Rev. Hamilton also writes Christian fiction novels for youth and young adults. The first installment in her series is called Rude Awakening, which is available in all major bookstores.
In her journey into becoming a minister, she has had some life changing experiences in her life that have allowed for her to have a passion for youth and young adult ministries. She strongly believes that the holistic spiritual formation of young people should not begin when they are well into adult hood, but earlier in life. As a young adult pastor, her wish for ministry is to be able to help with spiritual formation of the members of her congregation from a holistic point of view. She would like to use her gifts and graces to cultivate and nurture the spiritual formation of youth and young adults while building generational bridges with the older adults so that the church as a whole can thrive and not just survive. She wants to be able to development tangible programs that will tie into the vision of the conference and help the local church remain a church alive by the grace of God, transforming lives for Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jenny Hurd
Jenny is 23 and lives in Pace, Florida. She graduated from the University of West Florida with a BA in History and a minor in Art History. After working a summer at Blue Lake, a summer camp in the Alabama/West Florida Conference, she chose a job she knew she would love-the ministry. She serves at the same church she grew up in; FUMC Pace. Here she is the Young Adult ministry director and supportfor the youth and children departments. She also heads up several outreaches including picnicking with the homeless, leading a worship band called After the Seventh, and a yearly mission trip to Peru to give some much needed love to a girls’ orphanage. She is constantly trying to listen to God’s voice and trust the plan He has for her life.
Jenny hates fundraising but is pretty good at it-she thinks it’s a joke God likes to play on her. She enjoys traveling, ocean kayaking, and photography. She especially loves British comedy and the TV show 24. Jenny will occasionally get lost in the world of books and is sad when a good book ends. She loves music-especially Jack Johnson, David Crowder, the Wallflowers, James Bond theme songs, and Snow Patrol.
Chris Lee
Chris Lee was born and raised at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, TN, where his family still resides. He attended Tennessee Wesleyan College where he studied church vocations, youth ministry, and music. He graduated in 2005 while working at a church in Athens, TN as a worship leader. After his wife, Anna, graduated from the same institution in 2006, they took some time to serve in Athens before moving to middle Tennessee so that Anna could pursue a Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt University in 2007. Chris and Anna currently reside in Murfreesboro, TN, where Chris works as the Director of Core Youth Ministries at Trinity United Methodist Church.
Chris is also a singer/songwriter, and has been featured on a GBOD compilation album called “Neshama.” Besides Anna, he loves music, sports, youth ministry, and politics. Some general info about Chris would be that he likes shag carpet, Mini Coopers, art, stupid movies, playing games, and his favorite food is sausage balls. Chris is passionate about being able to use his gifts to impact the kingdom of God in whatever way possible.
L.A. McCrae
L.A. McCrae is a young adult woman who is OnFire for God. She works as a part of the OnFire and Mosaic leadership committees within the United Methodist Church. She is currently pursuing ordination as an elder within the Baltimore-Washington Conference and is discerning where God is calling her into ministry. Additionally, L.A. stays busy with her full course load at the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. while working a part time marketing job at State Farm. When not at school or work, L.A. loves spending time with the youth at Queens Chapel United Methodist Church where she is the Director of Youth Ministries.
L.A. is a very ambitious young woman who plans to open her own Christian Coffee house one day. She also is looking forward to opening a 501 (c) 3 organization that will focus on the revitalization of urban areas and empowering youth. Currently, she intends to work with classmates on implementing a Collective Education Group (C.E.G.) that will provide a positive alternative to the current education paradigm and disparity in educational equality for students in urban areas. Education, campus ministries, and social justice are just a few of L.A.’s passions.
Without a doubt, L.A. is proud to be a United Methodist – as is seen by the tattoo on her right arm! She is a radical with a cause to transform minds and hearts. She loves R&B, Hip Hop, Jazz, and Gospel. She is an alto saxophonist and spoken word artist. L.A. enjoys playing basketball and volleyball. But most of all, she loves spending time working on behalf of the church and falling in love with God daily.
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