That's Crazy

Last Sunday, I had an interview at Kennesaw United Methodist Church. Part of the application process was to write a 3 page autobiographical statement. This statement was to include significant events in my life that helped to shape my faith, including when I accepted Christ, important people in my faith journey, and significant events in college and in ministry. I love to write and really enjoyed this experience; so much so, it was very hard to limit to 3 pages (Don't tell anybody, but I actually wrote 4 pages.). Since several people were asking to read it and I thought it was too good to leave as a saved document on my computer, I decided to share it with y'all. Enjoy and feel free to post a comment letting me know what you think.

That’s Crazy

If you would have told me a year and a half ago that I would be working for Lexington County as a 911 Dispatcher, I would have told you, “That’s Crazy!” If you would have told me a year and a half ago that I would be considering leaving Lexington, SC, the place I call home, to pursue youth ministry positions throughout the Southeast, I would have told you, “That’s Crazy!” For you see, I love Youth Ministry and for many years have felt God’s call on my life to serve the town of Lexington, most specifically to serve the congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church. Lexington has become home, a place of comfort where family and friends reside; however, to limit God’s calling on my life to a certain geographical area, to only use my gifts in the place I feel “comfortable” would go against everything we know of God and the ways He has acted throughout the Scriptures and throughout my life, and that would truly be crazy.

I grew up in Penn Hills, a large suburb of Pittsburgh,PA, relocating to Lexington, SC with my mom in the summer of 2003. My childhood was one that has become normal for so many children across this country. My brother (John) and I were raised by a single mom, getting to see our father on the weekends. For us, this was all we knew, it was normal, and it worked. My mom was the one that dragged John and I to church every Sunday, but it took a middle school crush to make the power of the Gospel come alive in my life.

Liz was one of the few people who attended both my middle school and my church. I remember the day like it was yesterday, when Liz approached me in homeroom and asked if I attended Unity Church and encouraged me to come to youth group. From that point on my life has never been the same; I could not get enough of church! I began begging my mom to come early on Sundays so we could go to Sunday School, cutting my weekends short with my dad so I could go to youth group on Sunday night, and showing up any time the church doors were open. However, the power of the Gospel didn’t invade my life until Confirmation Classes began Spring of that year, when one night at home, after being presented with the truth of the Gospel in class that night, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. To say life was the same after that, now that would be crazy.

In the fall of 1997, I entered my freshman year of High School, though things were a little different with the Penn Hills School District. Due to space restraints, ninth grade was located at the Middle School and in order to “graduate” into the “real” High School, all ninth graders had to write a paper on a potential career they would like to pursue. This even included researching the various colleges, masters programs, and seminaries one would need to attend in order to do this type of work. At this point being very involved in the music and fine arts scene, I tossed around the idea of becoming a band director. Yet once again, it would be crazy to think God wouldn’t speak to me directly and tell me what path He wanted me to pursue for the rest of my life. I remember riding with my dad to his house that Saturday night when God made it clear He wanted me in full-time ministry. We were just about to turn onto my dad’s street when the Lord told me, “Paul, I want you in ministry.” It was at that point that I could see myself doing nothing else; and to think arguing with the Creator of the universe would change anything would be crazy.

Four years later, in the fall of 2001, I began my collegiate career at one of those schools I researched for that career paper, Grove City College (located in north western Pennsylvania). Those four years spent at Grove City were the best years of my life; years in which my faith was deepened and my calling strengthened. While at Grove City I immersed my self in various on and off campus ministries. Books can be written about the ways in which I saw God move in others and more importantly through me while serving in these ministries. I did everything from taking two Inner City Outreach (ICO) trips to Kentucky, to welcoming the freshman classes of 2002 and 2003 while serving on the Orientation Board, and even got to minister to juveniles from across the country at George Junior Republic, “one of the country’s largest, private, nonprofit residential treatment communities for at risk youth”. One of the greatest blessings of my life was getting to witness walls being torn down as several teenage boys who had seen and experienced way more that I ever will in my lifetime, sat in tears as they accepted the unconditional love of Christ. Through these ministries, I experienced the power and love of God in ways I never had before, however it was my time as a leader of an ICO trip to Malawi, Africa Easter break of 2004 that provided me with an experience of God that will never go away.

It was Finals Week 2003. I remember sitting in church listening to the testimony from overseas missionaries, when the Lord told me, “Paul, I want you to lead an ICO trip to Africa”, to which I immediately responded "That’s Crazy”. Not only had I never traversed outside of the Eastern seaboard, let alone out of the country, I had never led a mission trip. How in the world was I going to pull this one off? All I knew was that the Lord had never spoken to me in this way before; it was so strong that I couldn’t shake it. That summer while working for a homebuilder in Lexington, Africa was all I could think about. It was like a bad flea that you just couldn’t shake. To think God couldn’t use me to accomplish this mission was crazy.

I entered my junior year at Grove City knowing that I would be leading a team to Africa that spring. Of all the countries in Africa, Malawi became the destination of choice due to some ministry connections I had through the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. After plastering the campus with signs asking for a co-leader, Heidi, a good friend of mine since freshman year, stepped forward and said she would fill this vacancy. I immediately knew Heidi was called to serve in this role; not only did I need a female, but I was looking for someone who was energetic, fun, incredibly organized, and someone I knew I could work well with; Heidi fit this description to a tee, one could not ask for a better partner. After several introductory meetings and screening interviews, our team of 12 began to take shape. As our team began to bond and gel, we knew God’s hand was upon the trip and us. God provided for us financially, blessing us with well over the $25,000 we needed to travel to Malawi. God provided for us physically, not one of us got sick before, during, or after (ok, I was a little sick when I came home, but nothing too bad) the trip. Finally, God provided for the people of Malawi. Not one single donation bag (or personal suitcase for that matter) was lost or delayed after traveling on 6 different planes and 20,000 miles round trip. Though only there for one week, God used this trip as a springboard for future mission work. Heidi went on to serve the people of Malawi for an entire summer a few years later and one of our team members led another ICO trip Easter Break of 2007. To say God always calls the equipped would be crazy for I now realize God doesn’t always call the equipped, but equips the called. Whenever I doubt the power of God or His ability to care for His people, all I have to do is reflect on that trip.

My career in full/part-time Youth Ministry began in September 2002 during my sophomore year, when the congregation of Fredonia Presbyterian Church asked me to be their Youth Intern. That relationship continued for three incredible years, ended only by my graduation from Grove City College in May of 2005. Originally signing up for the position to get some church experience while earning a little bit of spending money, it wasn’t until my summer internship at Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church in 2004, that I felt God specifically calling me into Youth Ministry. Working day in and day out with two passionate youth directors and traveling to various cities across the Southeast with youth in tow, helped to craft my skills and passion for youth ministry. It was at the end of that summer that I stood in the pulpit of an empty church and said, “I want to go into full-time youth ministry.”

Upon graduation from Grove City College I went back to serve the youth of Saxe Gotha as their intern for a second summer. It was through my three years at Fredonia and my second summer at Saxe Gotha that I realized the key to a successful youth ministry: longevity. After taking a position in Greenville that wasn’t the right fit for me, I came back to my “home-town” of Lexington to serve the congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church.

I knew Pilgrim was the place for me from the minute I interviewed with Pastor Rusty Sullivan and the search committee. Not only was it in the town I considered home, it was a growing church not just in numbers, but also in “faith, love, and service”. I was the first ever full-time Director of Youth Ministries at Pilgrim and was soon followed by the first ever Associate Pastor (Pastor of Nurture and Outreach), first ever contemporary service, and the completion of a 3.5 million dollar sanctuary. Pilgrim did in sixth months what it takes most churches years to do and it was exciting to witness and be a part of it. At Pilgrim I was called upon to strengthen an existent ministry while breaking apart the cliques and the spirit of exclusiveness that existed in the High School ministry. After some time working on just that, I began pouring much time and resources into the development of a Middle School ministry. By the time of my departure, over 80% of the middle school students on roster were active members of this ministry.

I loved every minute the Lord blessed me with in serving the congregation of Pilgrim Lutheran Church. I could go on and on talking about the ways God brought this youth group together. About the many ways in which I was blessed and honored to see Him work in the lives of teenagers through various service projects and mission trips. I could mention the joy I felt in planning these trips and preparing the themed messages to deliver while on them. God continues to bless and grow the youth ministry of Pilgrim to this day. To think God would call me away from this church, from a position I loved so much would seem “crazy”, however His ways are not my ways and in June of 2008 I was called to step down from my position as Director of Youth Ministries.

I miss Youth Ministry. I miss the joy I felt going in to work everyday. I miss having an active role in the lives of teenagers and watching them develop a passion for the Scriptures. It took God placing me in the role of a 911 Dispatcher to realize how much I loved my job and that unique calling He has placed on my life. I know God has a bigger plan for me and has already prepared a place in ministry for me. I know, because I’ve been a witness to the ways He has worked through my life in the past.

In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan describes the “crazy” love God has for us. The God who created the universe, who placed the stars in the sky also knows exactly how many hairs we have on our head and every thought we’re thinking. Chan goes on the write that this love calls for a complete and total surrender and obedience to His will. This “crazy love” calls for the willingness to pursue Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, throwing off whatever hindrances keep us from being fully devoted followers of Christ. Reflecting upon the stories of my life, it’s hard not to notice the many ways in which He has used me, an ordinary person, to accomplish some mighty works for Him; for me to respond in any other way then complete obedience to His call, you would have to say, “That’s Crazy”!


Paul Scheeser
August 2008