In writing to the church in the town of Philippi, the Apostle Paul told them of his plan to send his associate Timothy to check in with them and minister to them on Paul’s behalf.

Paul writes these words regarding Timothy:

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.” Philippians 2:20-23 (NIV)

On Sunday, February 6, I announced to our congregation that our own Timothy, Timothy Peace, had accepted a senior minister position at another church. The Holy Spirit has called Tim to serve at another branch of the Kingdom of God! I am so proud of Tim. He has served with me in the work of the gospel and proven himself faithful. He has grown right before our eyes as a teaching minister. When you read Paul’s words regarding his Timothy, you can just feel how much he loved him. It was Paul’s joy to see Timothy flourish. I can say that I feel the same way regarding Tim Peace. Our elders, staff, and members of the family we call Mount Carmel Christian Church are overjoyed to see Tim, Angie, and Leo be faithful to the Lord’s calling to a new chapter in ministry. Tim has proved himself faithful. He has blessed us. He will be a blessing at his next assignment. I have asked Tim to write a note to all of you in this BLOG post. We will be updating you as we work out the details regarding Tim’s transition over the coming weeks.

Didi Bacon
Senior Minister
Mount Carmel Christian Church

Hey Mount Carmel Church Fam,

I showed up at Mount Carmel on a friend’s invite in my freshman year of high school. The youth group, at that time, met in a building connected to Midas that used to sit off of Old 74, where it crossed State Route 32. There was graffiti on the wall behind the stage, a band led worship songs in the style of 90’s era punk rock, and bald and goateed Student Minister was there, and his message hooked me.

The only thing is, I didn’t stick around.

The whole thing weirded me out. The service didn’t fit my preconceived ideas of what church should be like. Truth is, I thought church was supposed to be something I had to force myself to be a part of. So the idea that it fits me and that I could fit in with it was too shocking and too good to be true.

But, that Student Minister, Russ Howard, didn’t let me just walk away. Instead, he got me to return during my sophomore year of high school. He invited me into this thing he called a D-Group (the D stood for discipleship), and after spending that time with him, Russ eventually baptized me in March 2001.

Rick Anderson became my D-Group leader when Russ took a lead minister position out of state. From Rick, I not only learned how to have a solid devotion to the Lord, I realized that I could serve God with my time and my talent, talent Rick saw in me that wasn’t even fully developed yet. He not only taught me to sing for the Lord, he actually taught me to sing!

When I was at Cincinnati Christian University, working on my bachelor’s degree in preaching, I had the opportunity to intern with Didi Bacon. I had the chance to do a bit of everything in the church: teaching Bible studies, greeting and handing out bulletins, picking up cases of water for evening events, and serving on a sermon writing team. I got to learn how to do ministry in various ways, but I was always encouraged to be me and do my version of ministry.

Eventually, I came on staff in February 2010. I’ve had the honor of serving in worship, tech, digital media, small group ministry, teaching ministry, preaching, student ministry (as a volunteer and D-Group leader). Yes, I’ve even managed to spend a little bit of time in the children’s ministry and nursery.

But the truth is, all I just said is a small snapshot of a significant season of my life in which I was brought to faith, discipled, and encouraged to lead in ministry.

The more significant part of that story is you, the church at Mount Carmel.

Nobody is self-made, contrary to the ideal popularized in our world today. God used Mount Carmel to form me in my faith, from the first steps of my journey all the way to today, where I serve as the Teaching and Worship Minister.

In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul writes the following to Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 NRSV

It is and has been my passion to help people, one by one, to take their next step in faithfully following Jesus, whether it’s their first or their next in a long line of many steps. While I’ve indeed pursued every avenue to be able to excel at doing that (because I care about being the best at what I care about doing), the truth is that the reason I’m so passionate about helping people along in being disciples of Jesus is because of you. Mount Carmel Christian Church, you did that for me, you’ve allowed me to do it for you, and you’ve given me space to continue to get better and better at doing it.

I have answered the call to be a Lead Minister, not because I view myself as someone belonging on the top of the organizational chart, but because I’ve been called and given the opportunity to bring a culture of discipleship that you’ve instilled in me to a church community that is ready and willing to be a disciple-making community themselves.

Someone asked me if I’d change sports team affiliations in my new location. I responded, “you can take me out of Cincinnati, but you won’t ever take the Cincinnati out of me.”

Well, in much more profound respect, you can take me out of Mount Carmel Christian Church, but what God has done in and through me at Mount Carmel cannot and will not be taken out of me.

I genuinely love you, the people of Mount Carmel, and I thank you for your investment in me, your encouragement, and your affirmation of my calling. Thank you for letting me grow with you.

I ask that you pray for my family and me as we go to help another church grow and continue our own growth along with it.

I’ll see you around.

Timothy Peace
Teaching and Worship Minister
Mount Carmel Christian Church