If you had asked me twenty years ago where God would lead my life, I doubt I would have said church planting. For more than two decades, I served as a firefighter and paramedic in Northeast Ohio. Those years gave me a front-row seat to people’s lives. I walked with families through crises, loss, uncertainty, and some of the most difficult moments they would ever face. Along the way, God began stirring something deeper in my heart.

As we discussed God’s calling on my life, I remember him asking me, “Do you think you might be a church planter?” I had never planted a church, so I didn’t know how to answer him. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought, “Maybe I am.”

During a recent lunch with some newer friends, the question was posed: “How did you decide to become a pastor?” My answer usually catches people off guard. “I didn’t.”