Why Bother?
2012
In 2012, Paul and Steffi followed the Lord’s leading to move to Denver for Steffi to pursue her master's in counseling from Denver Seminary. They packed as many of their belongings into their Kia Rio hatchback as they could and made the trek to colorful Colorado. Without a job or a home to call their own, they spent a few months looking for work and a place to live as they stayed in the basement of some family friends.
After little luck finding a job, Paul and Steffi began wondering if they had misunderstood the Lord’s leading. They had moved to Denver with enough savings to job hunt for a few months and their time was almost up. Just when they were about to call it quits and head back to Dallas, they connected with a youth pastor who had also moved to Denver from Dallas. After dinner together, the youth pastor reached out to Paul seeing if he would be interested in applying for the Middle School Director position, they were looking to hire for their church called Waterstone.
At the time, Paul was not sure he wanted to work in the church world again, but after a visit to Waterstone, Paul and Steffi began to feel like something was different about this church from some of their recent experiences. Its focus on the kingdom and expression of worship and preaching resonated deeply. Like many who have come to Waterstone, it felt like a safe place to be honest, doubt and follow Jesus.
Paul applied, interviewed and taught middle school on a Sunday morning, and was offered the job that afternoon. They went back to Texas to gather the rest of their belongings and moved into a town home in Columbine they had found providentially through Craigslist.com. Wild times!
After several months of working in the youth department at Waterstone as the Middle School Director and the Front Desk Receptionist, Paul became the Student Pastor at Waterstone where he served in that role for 6 years. Paul loved his time in student ministry and has a heart for seeing the next generation be known and loved in the church.
During that time, Steffi finished her MA, and Paul went back to school at Denver Seminary to get his master's degree as well. While Paul loved working at Waterstone, he still believed upon completing grad school that he would move into the non-profit world and work in a parachurch ministry. However, during his final semester of seminary, two important things happened:
The first was during his internship with Michelle Warren of Open-Door Ministries and Christian Community Development Association where he assisted in the completion of their white paper on Education Equity. During his internship, Paul fell in love with the work of advocacy and was interested in moving into a role more permanently with Michelle Warren. However, when Paul asked her about a job, she encouraged him that his place was in the church and not para-church ministry. Something about the conversation shifted Paul’s heart and he began a journey of falling more deeply in love with the Bride of Christ as the primary means through which Jesus is at work in the world.
Secondly, around the same time, Paul delivered his first sermon at Waterstone on January 1, 2017. It was a 55-minute sermon, and admittedly, it wasn’t very good. However, shortly afterward, Larry Renoe approached Paul, suggested he might have a gift for preaching and encouraged him to explore it further. Despite believing his long-term path was in the non-profit sector, that conversation marked the beginning of a shift in Paul's heart toward where he sensed God might be leading him.
2018
In 2018, Paul shifted roles at Waterstone again and became the Missions and Mobilization Pastor where he had the opportunity to build bridges between Waterstone and communities across the street and around the world. He was able to lead several mission trips to Spain, Africa, the Dominican Republic, and hosted the first Feed My Starving Children event at Waterstone. In addition, he created a new program called Waterstone Serves.
In late 2019, Lead Pastor, Larry, asked Paul if he would be interested in shifting roles once more to become the Teaching Pastor at Waterstone. Paul was excited for the opportunity to grow in in his preaching voice and also shift into a discipleship role leading the Transform Rhythm at Waterstone. Paul loved leading the Small Groups Ministry and even got to help launch the Monday Morning Phone Call Podcast during COVID. Paul has a heart for seeing people become more like Jesus and this led to the opportunity to develop a new discipleship initiative called Wednesdays at Waterstone.
During this time, Paul also had the opportunity to lead the Pastoral Care Ministry at Waterstone, working closely with Stephen Ministry and the pastoral care team to love and shepherd people in seasons of crisis and grief.
Over the last few years, Paul has loved the opportunity to continue to preach, develop future leaders of the church through the Residency Program, and step into more leadership opportunities.
Paul is grateful for the current opportunity to be the next Lead Pastor at Waterstone. Looking back at the journey to this moment, he and Steffi feel immense gratitude for all God has done in their lives and the story he is writing. They are expectant for the Holy Spirit to continue to work through Waterstone in this coming season and can’t wait to see what God will do next.