B E H I N D / T H E / B A R

I am a pastor. My family and I along with a handful of other families planted a church a little over two years ago in Chattanooga.  I love being a pastor.

I am also a barista.  I am part owner and full time manager of a coffee shop that opened almost a year ago in downtown Chattanooga.  I’ve been in the coffee business for almost three years now. I love coffee and I love being a barista.

Some would look at the fact that I am a pastor and I work an additional full time job, and they might be inclined to pity my circumstances, “poor guy, trying to pastor a startup church, and having to work a full time job just to feed his family.”   Thanks for the concern, but it’s ok, really.  This is my life. It is what I do.

The way I see it, I’m able to feed my family, and that is a very good thing.  However, as a pastor and a barista I have the rare privilege of pastoring a local congregation of some of the best folks in the world, as well as the opportunity to rub elbows with people on a daily basis who wouldn’t go near a church at all.   I feel blessed to not sit behind a desk and direct ministry but to get out everyday and do ministry.  I know me, and I know that if I was only a full time pastor, I would find a strange comfort behind my desk dreaming up new ministry initiatives for someone else to do, but I wouldn’t be fulfilled.

So you see I’m cool with what I do.  I sometimes get the feeling that there just aren’t enough hours in a day.  But I absolutely love my life, I love what I do.  I love being a Pastorista!!