Five Reasons I Love the Protege Program

One of our Proteges, Jenilee LeFors, blogged her top ten reasons for loving the Protege Program today. That inspired me to blog my own list. Granted, hers probably comes with a higher level of credibility for potential protege applicants since she is actually in the trenches and not the one digging the trenches to throw the Proteges into. Regardless, here are the top five reasons I love the NCC Protege Program.

Andy Pisciotti
Andy serves in our Media Department and has cranked out some amazing work. He spearheaded most of the creative elements for our leadership retreat and has taken the lead on our new online training modules for the discipleship department. He filmed and edited a short documentary that was shown as part of the Tears series. He is also creating culture in our church by helping us gain a better understanding of the concept of story and challenging us to live stories that are worthy of the sacrifice of Christ and that bring him glory. He's leading a small group focused on that. Andy's attitude it off the charts.

Chris Howell
Chris works in our Discipleship Department, where he spearheaded our Garden to City Bible reading plan, led theming and content development for our annual leadership retreat, and served on Operation Kaboom-- a systematic re-build of NCC small group ministry. And speaking of re-building her also worked with another Protege to take our student ministry to the next level. He serves as a coach and a small group leader in our small group ministry and he is a regular blogger on fromgardentocity.com. He speaks at Uprising student ministry gatherings. Chris is an analytical thinker and strong discipleship skills.

Jenilee LeFors
Jenilee comes to us from Seattle where she served as a youth pastor and mentored girls from junior high through college. At NCC, she heads the weekend worship experiences for our kids ministry and worked with Chris Howell to build our youth ministry. Jenilee has been involved in re-branding our kids ministry, creating family worship experiences, and speaking at Uprising student ministry. She is actively discipling a group of middle school girls-- which happens around coffee tables and also in the trenches of life and ministry. Jenilee has contagious enthusiasm and positivity and keeps us laughing.

Kari Olney
Kari Olney is a pioneer. She was a leader at NCC before she became a Protege. After graduating from Gallaudet University, she entered the Protege program in our deaf ministries. She had the courage and confidence to join a team of all-hearing people to stretch our ministry. She spearheading Alpha in ASL, Catacombs worship in ASL, and outreach opportunities on Gallaudet University's campus. This is big stuff. I'm so proud of Kari for the heart she has for people and ministry and for her courage to plow new ground.

Ross Middleton
Ross Middleton serves as our church-planter-in-residence. That means we throw him into lots of different roles to learn skills he though he would never need to learn as a pastor. He leads the charge at our Ebenezers location where he serves as campus pastor for our Saturday PM worship gatherings. He leads outreaches and small groups strategically in the communities he wants to influence and serve. He organized our annual Easter Eggstravaganza-- the largest outreach we do each year. I love Ross's sensitivity to the Spirit and reliance on prayer.

These guys are not just interns. They are part of the team, developing culture, and making ministry happen. That's what I love about Protege Program.

We are looking for a few good Proteges for 2010-2011. If you are interested, check it out here.