Hello from California

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Aug 31, 2021
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21
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#1
Greetings from the California high desert!

My name is Gary. In my day job, I'm on staff as the worship director at my home church. My passion is worship, songwriting and escatology.

I retired from aerospace and IT about 5 years ago and looked forward to spending my latter years running my small business, gardening, fixing up my home and training my dog. God had other plans. You see, my wife and I found a nice church close to home and started attending. We became members and one weekend they held worship team signups. So, I filled out the form, hoping that I could play guitar a couple times a month. I auditioned by joining a rehearsal early one Sunday morning. They asked me to stay and play for the service. At the time, the church was looking for a worship leader because the current leader was joining the Marines. They had no replacement. Holy Spirit brought it about. A short time later, the pastor offered me the paid position. My "old age" retirement lasted all of six months. Now, I'm working again and life is full time ministry.

This year the congregation voted to elect me as an elder. The moral of the story is that God is never done using you and there is no retirement for a Christian. I lead adult Bible study class and act as chaplan at memorial services.

Looking forward to sharing and making friends on the forum!

Gary
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
41,315
16,302
113
69
Tennessee
#3
You certainly have been busy and have made good use of your time. There are a whole lot of members from California here so you should feel right at home. Looking forward to your posts Gary. Glad to have you onboard. Welcome to CC.
 

Ahwatukee

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2015
11,159
2,373
113
#4
Greetings from the California high desert!

My name is Gary. In my day job, I'm on staff as the worship director at my home church. My passion is worship, songwriting and escatology.

I retired from aerospace and IT about 5 years ago and looked forward to spending my latter years running my small business, gardening, fixing up my home and training my dog. God had other plans. You see, my wife and I found a nice church close to home and started attending. We became members and one weekend they held worship team signups. So, I filled out the form, hoping that I could play guitar a couple times a month. I auditioned by joining a rehearsal early one Sunday morning. They asked me to stay and play for the service. At the time, the church was looking for a worship leader because the current leader was joining the Marines. They had no replacement. Holy Spirit brought it about. A short time later, the pastor offered me the paid position. My "old age" retirement lasted all of six months. Now, I'm working again and life is full time ministry.

This year the congregation voted to elect me as an elder. The moral of the story is that God is never done using you and there is no retirement for a Christian. I lead adult Bible study class and act as chaplan at memorial services.

Looking forward to sharing and making friends on the forum!

Gary
Greetings and Welcome, Gary! It seems that I have already responded to some of your posts before seeing your introduction.

Welcome to Christian Chat. Look forward to seeing you out on the Forum.
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,696
113
#5
Greetings from the California high desert!

My name is Gary. In my day job, I'm on staff as the worship director at my home church. My passion is worship, songwriting and escatology.

I retired from aerospace and IT about 5 years ago and looked forward to spending my latter years running my small business, gardening, fixing up my home and training my dog. God had other plans. You see, my wife and I found a nice church close to home and started attending. We became members and one weekend they held worship team signups. So, I filled out the form, hoping that I could play guitar a couple times a month. I auditioned by joining a rehearsal early one Sunday morning. They asked me to stay and play for the service. At the time, the church was looking for a worship leader because the current leader was joining the Marines. They had no replacement. Holy Spirit brought it about. A short time later, the pastor offered me the paid position. My "old age" retirement lasted all of six months. Now, I'm working again and life is full time ministry.

This year the congregation voted to elect me as an elder. The moral of the story is that God is never done using you and there is no retirement for a Christian. I lead adult Bible study class and act as chaplan at memorial services.

Looking forward to sharing and making friends on the forum!

Gary
Welcome to CC, Gary.:):coffee:
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
4,935
2,539
113
London
christianchat.com
#7
Greetings from the California high desert!

My name is Gary. In my day job, I'm on staff as the worship director at my home church. My passion is worship, songwriting and escatology.

I retired from aerospace and IT about 5 years ago and looked forward to spending my latter years running my small business, gardening, fixing up my home and training my dog. God had other plans. You see, my wife and I found a nice church close to home and started attending. We became members and one weekend they held worship team signups. So, I filled out the form, hoping that I could play guitar a couple times a month. I auditioned by joining a rehearsal early one Sunday morning. They asked me to stay and play for the service. At the time, the church was looking for a worship leader because the current leader was joining the Marines. They had no replacement. Holy Spirit brought it about. A short time later, the pastor offered me the paid position. My "old age" retirement lasted all of six months. Now, I'm working again and life is full time ministry.

This year the congregation voted to elect me as an elder. The moral of the story is that God is never done using you and there is no retirement for a Christian. I lead adult Bible study class and act as chaplan at memorial services.

Looking forward to sharing and making friends on the forum!

Gary
wow that's great Gary nice to meet you.
 

TabinRivCA

Well-known member
Oct 23, 2018
12,371
10,055
113
#8
Nice to meet you and welcome to CC:) Glad to have your input on the various Threads and I'm sure you'll be making many new friends here. God bless you and your family!
 
Aug 14, 2021
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#9
Nice to meet you Gary. BTW, I have a husky/malamute mix in need of training lol.

Welcome to CC, glad to have you here:):).
 
Aug 31, 2021
31
21
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#11
Thank you all for the kind welcome. Blessings to you in Christ our Lord!