By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC
Enjoy this interview with Jeff Reed who recently started as the new Lead Pastor of Highland Covenant Church
What is your personal and ministry background?
As the son of an Army chaplain, I have been in the proverbial front pew of the church all my life. Having said that, growing up I never thought I would actually end up as a pastor. After Westmont College with a degree in English, I went to seminary to undergird my interest in worship, music, the arts, and worship leading, and that was the field that marked the first season of my working life, serving as a worship pastor at two churches in Portland, and then at Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, CA beginning in 1997. In an unexpected turn of events I transitioned to the Senior Pastor position from the Worship Pastor position at Hillside in 2001, and it has been a wonderful and challenging learning curve ever since. I have been married to Susan for 33 years, and we have three adult married children, two living in the Portland area and one living in Seattle.
What are you passionate about in ministry right now?
I am an idea person, and in the past I have tended to flit from new idea to new idea, often leaving in the wake a trail of half-baked ventures. Older now, and starting anew at Highland, I am passionate about methodically working off of a high-level blueprint and staying with it for the long-haul. It has been so rewarding to set this blueprint in place and begin to execute off of it in an intentional and steady manner. I am finding that adhering to a master plan from the get-go doesn’t need to eclipse creativity. Rather it actually enhances creativity by providing many solid places of predictable connection to what is passing by and what is coming.
How can we pray for you?
The first season of pastoral leadership in a church requires that careful discernment around scope and pace: what things to build on, what things to tinker with, where to bring innovation, when to do this or that, and how fast or slow to move. I would love prayers for wisdom to see what needs to be clearly seen at each juncture, and that I would know the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit as distinguished from the pushing and shoving of my own insecurities or the imagined expectations of others.
Five things you didn’t know about Jeff:
1. What three traits define you?
Easy going. Playful. Trusting.
2. What is the one thing you cannot resist?
A chance to hang out with any of my kids for a day. Either that, or a Hostess white-powdered donut.
3. Where is your favorite place to be?
We have a small family cabin 20 miles east of Chehalis, WA on a tree-thick parcel of five acres with a small stream running through it.
4. What is your favorite thing to do?
I love reading and writing and talking about poetry.
5. What would you most like to tell yourself at age 13?
Relax, kid. You’re normal.
[Click Here] to visit Jeff’s Facebook Page
[Click Here] to visit Highland Covenant Church’s web page