“What can Brown do for you?” is an ironic tagline from a recent UPS ad campaign. As I consider what Brown Peterson can do for our church and our entire movement of the Gospel in Lakeland, I am excited and grateful.

Brown first came to Trinity in April of 2017 because of his interest in how we did ministry. He was first hired in October 2017 to fill the role now held by Bud Daniel and Tucker O’Brien, working with middle and high school boys. Following the resignation of our prior student ministry director, Brown was promoted to Director of Student Ministries. Since that time, he has cultivated a profound network of volunteers, junior staff, and ministry interns.

Now, after a thorough process of vetting and evaluation, we are excited to announce that our elders have unanimously voted to promote him to be our Discipleship Pastor. Because Brown is currently only an Assistant Pastor, our church policy requires a congregational vote of approval to promote him to be an Associate Pastor.

I would like to invite you to a congregational meeting after our corporate worship on Sunday, July 13th. At this meeting, we will put before you, the members of Trinity, the opportunity to approve this call.

Essentially, this means that Brown cannot do his work without your endorsement. It is how I have been called, Tony Myers, and David Springer, and any other Associate Pastor we have ever had. Our leaders are that excited about Brown, and we are glad to put this opportunity before you for your approval as well.

Our history at Trinity has long included the practice of seeking to identify young talent, building into these ministry leaders, getting them educated and trained, and then seeking to either deploy them or employ them. Along our journey, Trinity has sent more men to seminary than any other church in our presbytery. We have consistently seen the fruitfulness of young ministry leaders who start in student ministry and then grow into leadership ability for adults or even entire congregations. That is my history, and that is what we have seen in six of the church planters in our network. And it is what we now believe we see deeply in Brown.
 
If approved, Brown will be installed as the Discipleship Pastor and will help lead the transition for a new Director of Student Ministry, likely through a similar process involving Bud Daniel. This would follow the same template for how Brown first began at Trinity and provide Bud with the same opportunity for work and growth.

Our leaders see this opportunity as an exciting answer to prayer, and I’m personally excited about Brown. And thankfully, he is just as excited and eager to take on this new role. Please be praying for him and our entire church, for Brown’s family, and for God‘s leading in how you can be helpful to him and to Trinity in the greater mission of growing disciples of Jesus.