The Shperry Family is headed on a new ministry adventure. This time, we’re not moving across the country or over state lines. We’re staying right here. In Huntsville. In the place we now lovingly call “home.”
I’m going to save you all the details (although God has been at work in this for a while), Shane was encouraged by several of his Pastoral mentors and peers to reach out to our District Superintendent (the pastor boss) about a church in Huntsville. The church was looking for a senior pastor and they thought Shane would be a great fit. Honestly, we didn’t really want to leave Madison. We live in a great house, we have the funnest, most genuine group of teens around, we are surrounded by a church family who love and support us. We were super comfortable. So why leave?
But sometimes (read: usually) God isn’t going to call us to be comfortable. Kyle Idleman says “There is no comfortable way to carry a cross; I don’t care how you position it.”
Before our interview, we prayed that God would lead, but deep down, we were really hoping that the people would be rude and it would just not feel like a good fit on either side. But unfortunately, that’s not how it went. They loved on us, they loved on Nehem. They asked us questions, they answered our questions. Are they perfect? No. But luckily we all had that in common.
About a week later-the church board voted a unanimous “yes” on presenting us to the congregation. The following week. The congregation voted a unanimous “yes” on calling Shane as their senior pastor. Shane was called and officially offered the Senior Pastor position at Huntsville Calvary Church of the Nazarene. And we accepted.
And now I’m feeling all the feels.
Our Madison church family has loved on us through arguably the hardest time in our lives. They have prayed, and prayed, and prayed for us. They have held us up when we couldn’t hold ourselves up. They have fed us meals when we were home between hospital stays and surgeries. We truly believe that a church family is just as important as a blood family and they have proven that to be true. They have been our family when we needed them. They have come to our house at the drop of a hat to watch Nehem when we needed them. Madison church family, thank you for everything. We love you and there’s nothing you can do about it!
New adventures are awaiting. It’s bittersweet, but we know that God has opened this door for us. We’re excited to see how He is going to use, grow and teach us in the coming days. We would covet your prayers for our family and both church families during this time of transition.
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