New Staff: Bonus Interviews
Centenary Announces Two Staff Positions
Bonus Interviews
Reverend Jonathan Brake: In His Own Words
What a pleasure it is to be joining the ministry team here at Centenary. If there is one thing I’ve discovered in my life, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. I heard these words often from my seminary president, Maxie Dunnam, at Asbury Theological Seminary. Throughout the interview process, I felt God leading us closer to one another and now into ministry together. As I begin my ministry with all of you, one of the most important tasks will be getting to know one another. Therefore, allow me to share about myself and perhaps you will find some means of affinity between us to help start our conversations when we meet face to face.
I was born and raised in Charlotte within a family heavily involved in church life. My parents were teachers, youth leaders, puppet ministry directors, a Sunday School superintendent, among many other responsibilities. When I started Junior High School, friends of the family invited us to attend Belmont Park United Methodist Church. A few years later that congregation relocated and became University City United Methodist. I had the distinct pleasure of being a charter member, heavily involved in the weekly activities of meeting in a school gymnasium until a building could be constructed.
Those were formative years as God’s grace was guiding me into a future that I could never have dreamed of at the time. I trace my ministry calling back to a Bible Study I helped start at Garinger High School. That was when I discovered a passion for teaching and helping others to grow spiritually, applying biblical understanding to everyday life. After three semesters at UNC Charlotte, I transferred to Pfeiffer College and completed a double major in Christian Education and Religion. As a college student I helped to lead campus ministries as well as being a director of youth ministries at two churches in Concord, NC.
Participating with and leading small groups has been a major part of my ministry and spiritual growth for many years. I come to you excited about building upon the strong ministries already present at Centenary and I look forward to developing new opportunities for growing in our study of Scripture, bringing faith alive in daily living, and experiencing the wonder of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. My strongest spiritual gift is teaching which I believe takes place in a variety of settings and styles. Whether you learn and grow visually, through written material, from lecture style, in discussion groups, using technology, or by multisensory means, I hope we can develop a full menu of options as part of our spiritual formation and education ministry.
I married the love of my life, Alisa Shepard. We have shared over 16 years in marriage and feel like we’re still just getting started. We have four wonderful children – Bethany (13), Katie Grace (12 this month), Alison (8), and Sam (6). This fall they will be attending West Forsyth High, Clemmons Middle, and Clemmons Elementary.
My hobbies include singing, guitar, reading, and keeping up with the children. I am an Eagle Scout, served as Lodge Chief in the Order of the Arrow, played basketball and ran track in my school days. I paid my way through years of higher education by painting houses, working in video production, serving on church staff among other odd jobs. I have traveled to every state west of the Mississippi (except AK & HI) and most of those on the east side. I visited Moscow and the Ukraine back in 1990 before the Berlin Wall fell.
Now that you know a little about me, I look forward to getting to know you. Over the next few months take some time to share with me some of your story, your journey of faith, your hopes and dreams for growing in Christ at and through the ministries of Centenary. Know that I am in prayer for you as I greatly appreciate your prayers and support.
-Reverend Jonathan Brake
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Four Questions for Centenary's Newest Organist Susan Bates
TCW sat down with Centenary's newest organist, Susan Bates, to find where she's been,
what she's played and how her love for church music began.
TCW: Where have you played?
SB: I have been privileged to play concerts throughout the Southeast and in southern New England as well as at St. Thomas Church, NYC and St. John's Episcopal Church (Lafayette Square), and was honored to participate in worship at the Vatican.
TCW: How does your playing connect you to your faith?
SB: The gifts we possess are ordained to equip us to more fully love God and our neighbors, to edify the church, and to minister to those in the world to whom we are called.
TCW: How did you fall in love with “organ music?”
SB: I was recruited to be the organist at Davidson UMC when I was sixteen, after the preceeding organist had graduated from Davidson College. I was known as a pianist and had accompanied the children's choirs at the church. I then began organ lessons at Davidson College and knew it was my passion when I first played a Bach fugue.
TCW: How does Centenary’s organ compare to others you’ve played?
SB: I have played many types of pipe organs. Every church instrument is unique, and I look forward to praising and worshiping God through the glorious gift of music in the extraordinarily beautiful sacred space with the congregation, new music director, Mark Ridings, the choirs, and instruments at Centenary.
