Lead Pastor and Ph D Dissertation Plan

          As promised in the last blog entry, I will be sharing about the current pastoral staff responsibilities in the next couple of posts.
          Although it may seem a bit presumptuous, I will start with me.  Please forgive me for the impropriety. 

           It has been a year-and-a-half since I came on board as Calvary's Lead Pastor.  I thank God for the loving support of my wife, Monica.  We have been blessed with four children.

           Joshua is a DBU graduate, lives in Fort Worth, is the media production manager at DBU and provides part-time media direction to High Pointe Church in Cedar Hill, Texas.

           Rachel is a graduating junior at Sharyland High.  You might have already noticed that Rachel plays the bass in our contemporary service on a regular basis.  She also leads the "Remedy" student band on Wednesday nights.  She has been accepted to both Houston Baptist University and Baylor.  She is considering the possibility of University of Texas at Arlington too.  Her desire is to study nursing (RN and Nurse Practitioner) and, perhaps serve in the mission field.  She has been to the jungle of Panama to minister to the Kuna people on a couple of occasions and has grown to love that.  We are praying to see where God would want her to attend college and where she may be able to get the scholarships she needs.  Her preference is definitely Baylor.  (So let me know if you're in the market for a kidney.  I'm selling one of mine).

          Mia is a freshman at Sharyland High.  Mia is very social and friends are everything to her at this stage of her life.  She loves to attend the student ministry activities at Calvary.  She likes music, art, and, most probably will study cosmetology.  (Somehow I feel like she's already invested much time and effort in this field!).

         Stevan is in 7^th grade at Sharyland North.  Stevan is in the chess team at his school.  He recently qualified at regionals for state competition.  Then he qualified at state for national competition.  He is also in the tennis team and won second place at the regional tournament in tennis doubles.  Stevan loves to read and is also in drama at school, which he really enjoys.

            I have the privilege of giving leadership to the church in general, supervise the pastoral staff and the Church Administrator, work closely with the deacon body, relate to the personnel, stewardship and nominating committees and the coordinating council, preach regularly in the English services, preach occasionally in the Spanish services, provide pastoral care and counseling with the assistance of the pastoral staff.  I love what I do and I'm grateful that I get to do it full time!  I love Calvary and feel very much loved by it.

          I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Dallas Baptist University.  It consists of a Ph D in Leadership Studies.  I have completed all my requirements, except for the dissertation.  I have submitted one chapter and have several yet to go.  By agreement with Calvary, by DBU requirements, and by request of my wife, I need to finish this dissertation and graduate this year with God's help.  In order to do so, Calvary's personnel committee has requested that I shift some of my responsibilities within the next few months in order to finish the Ph D dissertation.  This is a commitment I have made to God, my family and Calvary, and with God's help, I want to fulfill it.  I have asked pastoral staff to assist me in pastoral care and hospital visits.  I have developed a preaching rotation schedule which will assist me and also help Pastor Rolando.  (I will explain more about this rotation schedule in another post).  I have also named a global mission trips leadership team consisting of staff and volunteers to ensure that this important area of our church ministry moves forward efficiently.
          I have felt loved, prayed for and supported by many of you and our congregation.  Please know that I am grateful for that and I ask for your continued prayer support in the days ahead.