Dear Quest,

We are very excited to introduce you to the “lead candidate” for the Associate Pastor position focusing on Students and Young Adults. Johnathan Walker, and his wife Christa, will be with us this Sunday the 22nd in the 10am worship service as well as Wednesday the 25th at the Student Ministries meeting (6:30 pm on the Lower Level). Johnathan will share his life story and his heart with all of us.  Your feedback will be facilitated through comment cards that will be available following the each of those meetings. However, we want you to meet and get to know him even before this weekend, so below you will find a short letter from Johnathan to us, the church.

–Kevin

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Hello Quest,

I am very excited to spend time with you all over the next week and to have the opportunity to meet everyone in person. Over the past few weeks and months, I have been blessed to spend time meeting with Kevin, the elders, the staff and your search team as we have prayed and sought the Lord’s direction for ministry at Quest.  It has been so encouraging to hear about the work that God is doing at Quest, and I am honored to have this opportunity to join in this ministry.

I love Jesus, his Word and his people. The gracious love that I have received through Jesus has transformed my life and my heart is to see the love of Christ become a real and vibrant experience in all of our lives. I love the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:17-18 where he prays, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” and that you may “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This prayer is near to my heart and desire to see people come to encounter God’s love for us in Jesus and to help people grow in their relationship with God. It brings me great joy to walk with people though the ups and downs of life and to encourage each other as we seek to follow Jesus.

When I was growing up in church, I was blessed to hear about the Gospel from a very young age. However, the storms of life challenged my faith as a teenager and I struggled to see God’s love in the midst of the brokenness in this world. And yet, even in the painful places of life, God is able to bring his message of hope and grace. The Lord brought people into my life who showed me the love of Christ, and God used the community of faith to bring me into a relationship with Jesus. God used this experience to ignite a passion in my heart for ministry and for helping other people come to know Jesus. I am excited to share more of my story with you soon.

I was born and raised here in St. Louis, and I grew up going to First Evangelical Free Church in Manchester. For college, I attended Truman State University where I studied philosophy and religion. Upon graduation, I returned to St. Louis to join the student ministries staff at First Free Church, where I have had the opportunity to lead and shepherd High School and College Students. I have loved building discipleship relationships with students, helping them follow Jesus and equipping them to share their faith with others. During this time, I also was a student at Covenant Theological Seminary and I graduated with my Master of Divinity degree this past December. After moving back to St Louis, I fell in love with a delightfully amazing woman, Christa, and we were married in 2015. She is my best friend, greatest encourager and has shown me the love of Jesus more than anyone else. I love studying God’s Word and investing in the lives of others. I am an avid reader and learner, I enjoy spending time outdoors and I love to build relationships over a cup of coffee.

I am looking forward to getting together with you all soon!

In Christ,

Johnathan Walker

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