For six and a half years, I served as Kids and Youth Pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church in Tampa, where I first sensed a call to future pastoral leadership. This led our family to move to Sanford, North Carolina for seminary, where we were deeply shaped by our time at The Summit Church. While living there, we became burdened for Sanford—especially as we saw the need for a gospel-centered, mission-driven church in the city rather than one people had to travel far to attend. Though a desire to plant a church in Sanford began to grow during that season, I also recognized the need for further leadership development.In 2020, we returned to Tampa after being invited back to Fellowship to serve as Next Steps Pastor. Over the past five years, God has worked powerfully—we’ve seen over 300 baptisms, developed leaders, and launched multiple campuses. During this time, Fellowship has continued to grow as a sending church. Yet in the midst of this fruitful season, God began stirring my heart again, prompting me to surrender the future I had envisioned there and seek His direction more fully.Through intimate time in God’s Word and a text message from a friend, God reignited a long-dormant calling to plant a church in Sanford, North Carolina.
Through prayer and wise counsel from family, friends, and mentors, this sense of calling was consistently confirmed. After sharing this with my wife and my Pastor, we spent intentional time seeking the Lord together. Through that process, it became clear that God is leading us to step out in faith and pursue planting a gospel-centered church in Sanford.
