My Bio:
I currently serve as the Director of Youth Ministries at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church. For those not in the know regarding Presbyterian polity, I’m essentially a youth pastor who isn’t ordained. I’m fairly passionate about youth ministry and helping students own their faith. I’ve served in a variety of churches and had the opportunity to know some absolutely phenomenal students. I think that the way we’ve done youth ministry for many years is actually broken, and we need to return to the core of our faith without the distractions of entertainment and the need to ever expand getting in the way of loving God and loving others–and helping students learn to do the same.
I also hold two MA degrees; one in Biblical Languages, and the other in Old Testament. My undergraduate work was in Bible, with a minor in youth ministry. This makes me more than a little bit of an odd ball in youth ministry circles, but we tend to be an odd bunch anyway. It does mean that I am sometimes frustrated by the tendency among youth pastors to focus more on the medium than the message, however.
If it isn’t obvious from my education, I’m a bit of a geek. Nothing is more engaging for me than reading biblical scholars. Near the top of my list of worthwhile reads are John Cook, Robert Holmstedt, Cynthia Miller, P. Kyle McCarter, Emmanuel Tov, Vince DeCaen, Jan Joosten, Alviero Niccacci, and Ziony Zevit. I could name several others, but one has to stop at some point. If that doesn’t make me odd enough, I also enjoy fantasy literature–Brandon Sanderson being my current favorite, though Pat Rothfuss, Mercedes Lackey, J.K. Rowling (what is it what the Brits and initials?), and of course J.R.R. Tolkien also deserve mentions. To say nothing of R.A. Salvatore, Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, and a host of others. In cast there was any doubt about my geek cred, I also run Linux, know how to compile a program from source, and can run my own web server, easy peasy.
Perhaps most importantly, I’m married to the lovely Carol Amanda Park who is my equal in every way. We’re expecting our first child in November 2011. I’m told children change everything…and I believe it.
Contact:
cpark2005 [at] *remove* gmail .com
