Senior Pastor in Newberry

In 2004 I became Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Newberry, South Carolina, a church that was hurting after a painful split. We started with listening sessions. We walked the elders and deacons through the Peacemaker Ministries process, and the leaders wrote letters of repentance and reconciliation to members who had drifted away. God did what only He can do.

The church went through the Embers to a Flame renewal program, hosted a community preschool of 125 children, and raised $750,000 to restore its historic sanctuary. I also served as a board member and ethicist at Newberry Hospital.

What I learned: repentance is not weakness. It is the doorway to renewal.