Gratefulness for my Summitview Fathers

I grew up in a church tradition where the clergy-members were referred to as "Father So-and-So" It was just tradition, and I didn't think much of it. They were our spiritual leaders, but I always felt distant from them, perhaps because I felt distant from God due to my lack of understanding of the Gospel. 

Me outside of the Summitview building in 2011

As I "grew up" re-born through Christ in Newsom Hall (Room 264), I had another set of spiritual leaders. Aaron Ritter my first D-Team leader, Pastor Meyer and Pastor Thatcher were my first followed by Brandon Pullen, Mitch Majeski, and Eddie Smith, Nathan Hrouda, Chris Reynolds, John Larsen, and Russ and Dave Cole / Eric Kaan in Symbio. 


These guys taught me through their example and their leadership what it meant to be a display of Biblical masculinity. Their example helped me understand its' compliment: Biblical Femininity. I felt safe to flourish as a Believer and be my crazy little self around these Summitview men. 


More importantly, some of them became my 'Summitview Fathers' I consider John Meyer as my Summitview father because - well - his kids are my age, and also he was a very important figure in helping me learn about Creationism and he fueled my passion for it. Last year when I was deciding whether or not to pursue Occupational Therapy, he was willing to sit down and chat with me about it because I needed a parent-like figure who had a Christian worldview to help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. 


My other leaders mentioned in the above paragraphs have helped me deal with my past and just deal with life as a young adult. They've seen me break down in tears as well as bounce around eeking. I am grateful for their friendship, guidance, and example. 


It was when I was at Summitview that I realized how deep my "father wound" was. Looking back at my time at Summitview, I see that God continues to fill it with Himself and He has used these "Summitview Fathers" as part of the process.