My name is Angie and here is a little bit about me. I was raised in a very Christian family. My brothers and sisters and I were involved in the church from a young age, attending youth groups, participating in fund raisers and field trips, and doing whatever else we could. The Church was just an integral part of our lives.
We grew up in Northern Virginia. Life was hectic with 5 children in the modest 4 bedroom house. We had to learn to get along and work with each other or we would have killed each other! As we all got through High School and headed out in our different directions to college, one brother, Edd, enlisted in the marines.
I always aspired to be in the medical profession due to my love for helping people. I learned a great deal of patience with two brothers and two sisters and thought that would be a good quality for an RN or a doctor. I wound up enrolling at VCU in Richmond in the School of Nursing to get a B.S. degree. Half way through the program I got some horrible news. My brother, who had been deployed to Iraq, had been killed in a vehicle accident in Saudi Arabia. What he was doing in Saudi Arabia was not clear.
I was sick. Drove home to be with the family and was asked to be one of the speakers to Eulogize him. He had a LOT of friends. I accepted and spent days agonizing over what I would say. The day arrived and, somewhat frightened, I got up and gave the speech. As I spoke, fear I would break into tears gradually subsided (though I did at the end), and I could feel the words emanating from my heart. When it was over, many many people came up to me and told me it was the most touching and tender talk they ever heard, and that my brother would have been beaming had he heard it. Many suggested I get into ministry and maybe even be a preacher.
I took this to heart and decided to return to my Church roots. At the end of the semester I transferred to Liberty University in Lynchburg where I completed my undergraduate work with a degree in Theology and Apologetics (I love Apologetics), then got a Masters in Religious Education.
Not so much a fan of Lynchburg, I moved back to Richmond and was offered a teaching position at VCU. While in that job, I found a Church I fell in love with called Passion Community Church in Powhattan, Va. It was a growing church and I became a Pastor at one of the campuses. This was my dream.
While attending a Pastoral meeting in Richmond, I met Bryan Pope and Amanda Ellet, and we became close friends. We even gave a couple joint lectures on Apologetics at VCU. I was deeply saddened to see Bryan move to Kansas City though I fully understand why he did it. I was even more saddened when Amanda moved to KC, but eventually Amanda called me with the unbelievable news that she would be returning to help open a new regional location and that she wanted me to be involved. I cannot find the words to explain how elated I was to hear this. We put them up when they came to look for a new home and a location for the new church, and have worked side by side ever since.
I am also elated to have been invited to work on this blog with Amanda, Bryan, and the rest of the team.