Nelson Searcy - Lead Pastor/Teaching Pastor
Hi, I'm Nelson and I'm the Lead Pastor of The Journey. I am primarily responsible for the overall leadership of the church and for the teaching on Sunday. I also work with church leaders from the metro area and across the US. I have a passion to see people become all that God created them to be.
BASIC STUFF:
My wife Kelley and I moved here in late 2001 to start The Journey. We were married in 1994 and have lived in North Carolina, Southern California and now the Upper West Side. We were set-up on a blind date (once you see her picture, you’ll know she must have been blind to marry me!) in college. We have one son, Alexander, born in June of 2006 and we are long time bulldog owners.
My love for New York City began in 1993 when I visited here to speak to a group of young entrepreneurs. Little did I know that a few years later God would call me to start a church here! I’m the least likely guy I know to have ‘pastor’ after his name as I didn’t become a Christian until college and I certainly don’t have it all together!
BIRTHDAY: October 3, 1971
EDUCATION: B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Religious Studies from Gardner Webb University; Masters of Divinity with Philosophy focus (M.Div.) from Duke University Additional study at North Carolina State University, Southeastern Theological Seminary, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity, Fuller Theological Seminary and Southern Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY).
Interests and Favorites
- Places: Outside of the Upper West Side, I love beaches, islands and warm weather (e.g., Grand Cayman, Key West, Long Island in the summer!).
- What's on your iPod: Jimmy Buffett, classic rock and classic country.
- Books: Any thing on Leadership (especially Bennis, Drucker and Peters), Philosophy (especially Aristotle, Pascal and Hauerwas) or Theology (especially Bonhoeffer, Grenz and McGrath). I'm also developing a taste for not-so-good-for-you mysteries (especially Patterson, Connelly and Woods).
- What do you TiVo: 24, Late Late Show and The Big Idea
- Sport Teams: I'll go with The Yankees, but honestly I do good to know what sport plays in what season!
- Movies: Anything with Eastwood; but the movies I watch again and again are "Shawshank Redemption," "Tommy Boy" and "Wall Street."
- Hobbies: Travel, water sports, writing (see http://www.churchleaderinsights.com for my latest) and hanging out with Kelley and Alexander.
- Dislikes: People who take forever to write a check in check-out lines; e-mails with a subject line that begins "FWD"; and prejudice in all forms.
- Odd Facts: In high school I was selected as one of the Top Ten Young Entrepreneurs in the nation for a computer programming business I started at age 13.
- Life Scripture: "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is." - Romans 12:1-2
