Presenting Will Little . . .

Two Sundays ago I had the joy of presenting to you our new Elder candidate, Will Little.  As I mentioned, Will has spent the past year going through the Elder process and he has shown to be a man meeting the qualifications of Elder found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact me at: downtown@marshillchurch.org.

Will’s Story

Growing Up

I grew up near Bremerton, WA. Most of my younger childhood memories consisted of tagging along during my brothers’ adventures and fort-building in the woods. My parents kept our house open for all friends to come and go, eat and drink, and obtain minor-injury first aid care. Some years we would have what seemed like hundreds of kids come through for Halloween, where we would build elaborate haunted houses and give away fresh donuts.  On rainy days throughout the year, the exploration and community centered on a small gaming console some may remember called Nintendo. While life in the mid-to-late ‘80s on the surface was as fun as any boy could expect, there was something going incredibly wrong within the underlying fabric of our family.

Searching

Through this season my parents managed to stay together and all my siblings stayed alive, but we left the Mormon Church that I grew up in and proceeded for about five years to hop from church to church, denomination to denomination, in search of something that I only remember being told had something to do with good community.  The Unitarians had tasty cookies and apple juice, Methodists fun kids, and Presbyterians strict teachers, but otherwise I do not remember learning why these churches existed and why we had to go to them.  Eventually we landed in the Catholic Church, getting back to my mother’s roots, and I remember learning many little phrases and creeds that were repeated Mass after Mass.  I have a great appreciation for the critical seeds that were planted as the word of God and central Christian truths were being hidden in my heart during this time. (I see this now practically and pray expectantly that my 3-yr-old son, who is memorizing scripture, phrases, ditties, and pirate songs (anything really, which convicts me to get more Duet 6:7-style in our household), will bear much fruit from these seeds, by God’s grace.)

Drawn to Christ

I stopped going to the Catholic Church as soon as I got into my mid-teens and my brothers were out of the house and off to college.  I pursued more intensely sports, music, academics, and pretty much anything else I wanted.  I began reading books about auras and exploring various old and new age philosophies and religions.  My friends in my senior year of high school ended up being mainly Mormons and Christians, and thankfully the Christians did the better job evangelizing.  I was drawn by the love I saw in their households, and just months before I left for college one friend laid out for me an analogy describing the human condition as being separated by a great chasm from God and the only way over was via a giant cross.  Things clicked for me about the importance of Jesus and the cross from that point forward, but the real heavy lifting of discipleship, repentance, and study of Scripture didn’t happen until UW college ministries (Campus Crusade for Christ and Reformed University Fellowship) along with faithful mentors and friends stepping into my life.  At the very beginning of 2003, I started reading Reformed theologians more intensely and attending Mars Hill Church, where I began leading a community group and eventually started volunteering in the Children’s Ministry, where I met my future bride.

Starting a Family

The next chapters of my life I will skim over briefly, but the basics start with pursuing my wife (Sarah May) through Pastor Tim Smith and a full household of single ladies she was living with (that was intense).  We wrote letters back and forth over the Christmas season 2003 before I was allowed to take her on a date in January, all of which seemed to work because we were engaged that February and married six months later.  At this time I was studying in a laboratory at UW where my advisor was recruited by the ETH.  Right after our honeymoon in August 2004 we moved to Zurich for three years, and I developed with my colleagues an assay to stretch and probe fibronectin fibers to investigate various mechanotransduction processes.  While it was an enjoyable academic season for me and an unforgettable experience traveling around Europe for the both of us, we (along with our almost 2-yr son who was born there) were very excited to return to the U.S. at the end of 2007, where we started helping Pastor Tim Gaydos and the core team launch our Downtown Seattle campus.  We now have a 1-yr old daughter as well and live up in the Central District where I work from home on a few small internet-related businesses and volunteer as much time as possible for the church.

Looking Towards the Future

As I mentioned during the services two Sundays ago, I have a heavy burden for raising men and women to herald the Gospel as community leaders in Seattle neighborhoods.  Lord willing, my role at our campus will be to continue to help identify, assess, train, and plant new missional coaches and leaders into our city to glorify Jesus.  I humbly ask for your prayers for me and my family as well as for the current and future leaders of our campus.  Please feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and/or OnTheCity.  Finally, if you haven’t yet already, I would invite you to Join a Community Group.