Incoming Leaders

Elliott, Jake

I am fortunate and blessed to have grown up in a Christian home with two parents faithful to Jesus and well plugged-in at a Free Methodist Church. So I feel I have always known God in my life. But my first significant memory of truly experiencing him was when I was 16 and had an important decision before me, whether to lead a group at my high-school, and was unsure whether I really wanted the position and its responsibilities.

So I went out to a deserted place near my house and called upon him for help. In my head, but as clear as if it were audible, I heard the question “who have I made you?” The specific gifts and passions God had given me fit this position well, and I knew he was encouraging me to accept. From that point on I began a real and personal relationship with Jesus.

Years later in my early 20’s, my relationship with Him had grown stale, but was reawakened during a season of confusion, mistakes, emptiness, and anxiety. He held my hand and walked me out of that season, teaching me humility and reliance on him, providing mentors that shaped my character, and equipping me with all that I needed to follow him whole-heartedly.

God's Call to Ministry

While working behind the scenes at my church, but not in a pastoral role, I began to fall in love with ministry. The complex work of loving the community and building the kingdom seemed to reflect my deepest desires, and so the Spirit highlighted in my spirit a call to ministry.

For most of my life I viewed a call as to a specific position or career path, but one even within ministry was never clear to me. As time has gone on and I have sensed more clarity in a call to walk in surrender to God, refining and using the gifts he has given, and the ways he has shown. For me these things include my passion for music, love for discipleship, thrill for pioneering and problem solving. A recent discussion with Dr. Kevin Mannoia articulated for me that using these things to build God’s kingdom are the true call, and that certain jobs, positions, or even career paths are deployments in which I am a steward of the call.

So in my current deployment, I have been called to cultivate a community of worship and prayer, to externalize my faith and personal growth in Christ to others around me, and to take risks in efforts of evangelism.

The Free Methodist Church

I grew up going to the Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara with my family. It was always a place of safety and love for me. But it wasn’t until later in life that my eyes were opened to other things that furthered my attraction and commitment to the church: firstly, I began to recognize the strengths of being connected to a greater conference and denomination, and the beauty of being truly connected with the people of that denomination, not just its resources and systems of accountability (which were also an eye-opening discovery).

Secondly, I began to recognize its heart for mission, both locally and globally, and its commitment to justice, equity, and dignity of inside and outside its walls. Thirdly, I fell in love with the FMCSC’s diversity of worship styles, church sizes, ministry angles, languages, races, and generations. I would feel a deep sense of the Holy Spirit when we would meet as a conference, and was filled with the confidence that this was the place to be!