Welcome Chandler, Pastoral Resident

If you have been part of Gateway Church for a while, you may remember Pastor Josh sharing a dream that someday Gateway would have a Pastoral Residency program. This program would be a hands-on training ground for young pastors and a way for Gateway to play a small role in addressing the current pastor shortage within our denomination. That dream became a reality when our first Pastoral Resident, Chandler Turpin, came on board. As a Resident, Chandler will gain experience in pastoral care, spiritual leadership, and preaching while completing his MDiv and ordination requirements. We expect Chandler, his wife Eilsabeth, and daughters Eliana & Annaleise to be part of our Gateway family for about 3 years. We will love them well while they are here, and then, like the Apostle Paul’s friends in Ephesus at the end of Acts 20, we will send them out, no doubt with both sadness AND joy, to pastor an EPC church somewhere else.

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Get to know a little more about Chandler and his family.

Tell us about yourself. 

• Your family…
  
  • My family consists of me, my wife Elisabeth, and our two girls Eliana (4) and Annalise (1). We also have a new dog named Daisy that the girls love. I love to spend time with our family as well as hunt and play golf. We spend most of our time looking for the next park or playground with the kids.
    

• Your background…
  
  • I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina and have a bachelor's degree from Belmont Abbey College and an MBA from Gardner-Webb University. I have been in the construction industry for the better part of ten years and I recently felt called to ministry. With no experience in ministry other than some volunteer work, my wife and I decided that some sort of residency program would be the best way to launch ourselves into full-time vocational ministry.
    
    

What brought you to Gateway Church? 

• The residency program brought us here from North Carolina. Our church put us in contact with Pastor Josh here at Gateway Church and we quickly decided it was a great fit for our family. 

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What are you most excited about for your time as one of our Pastoral Residents?

• I am most excited to learn what it means to be a pastor under Pastor Josh’s leadership. Also, I am excited to meet more people here at Gateway Church. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and helpful and I am looking forward to meeting more people.

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After completing this program, where do you see yourself?

• After completing this program I see myself answering the call of an EPC church, in a pastoral role. Location at this point is up in the air, and we don’t want to make any absolute statements on where we want to be. We will lean on the Holy Spirit for guidance once the time comes.

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How do you take your coffee?

• I love cream and sugar, and all sorts of specialty coffees. However I usually just drink it black.

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Be sure to say hello to Chandler and his family when you see them around.