Hello Summit Church,
For the past four years, I have had the pleasure of leading our College & Young Adult Ministries. During this time, I have watched Fort Lewis students find faith, have had the opportunity to serve our community with the young people who make it the vibrant place that it is, and have focused on building a community that supports one another in their walk with Christ. It has always been my goal to help foster sustainable, individualized relationship with Christ for these students and young adults. I wanted their faith to be their own, not reliant on a flesh-and-blood leader or individual, but one that they hold close to their chest. I can confidently say that through the power of the Holy Spirit this has been achieved. I trust that our students, and YA community boasts a faith that belongs to none other than themselves.
It is with this joyful acknowledgement that I express to you with somberness that I will be stepping down from my role as the College & Young Adult director effective May 15th. This is a joint decision with Summit Church leadership’s desire to move in a different direction with our Young Adults, and my own mental health and personal goal needs. I am incredibly grateful for the time I have been blessed with serving here and am excited for all that these young adults will continue to do for the Kingdom. They truly blow me away with their love and care for others beyond the confines of Church walls.
As I embark on a new chapter to share the love of Christ through music and narrative, I want to leave you with an encouragement. The fire is strong in the young people of this community. They are not jaded, nor naïve, they are hungry. This generation knows Jesus and has a radical hunger for more than just words and time slots, they want to participate in the calling of Christ. My prayer is that you equip them to be so much more than the world tells them they are. Uplift them, feed that fire as the precious thing that it is, listen as much as you speak, and pray with them.
Thank you for supporting this ministry these past four years,
Sincerely,
Joshua Mendrala
Summit Church would like to thank Josh for his faithful service the past four years! We will be having a “Farewell Celebration” for Josh after all the worship services on the weekend of May 3rd/4th and we invite everyone to stop by the Wesley Commons for some cake and to thank Josh in person and wish him well as he transitions to what’s next for him.