Hello My Name Is . . .

This blog will cover a wide range of topics from my own journey and struggles of faith, to issues in the church and around faith, to the joys, challenges, and celebrations of Living Hope Evangelical Church, Grosse Pointe.  So, I thought it would be good to start with some information on how I got here - so here you go!  :-)

I was born in Bakersfield, CA and grew up attending Northminster Presbyterian Church.  I was blessed to grow up in a loving Christian home, with wonderful examples of faith surrounding me.  When I was in middle school my mother was in a serious car accident.  After a few weeks most of our friends and family went back to their regular lives and schedules, but there was one group of people who continued to help us, send cards, pray for us, and drive over an hour to deliver meals to us.  Even then, I was able to see that this group of people, these Christians, were different.  Every summer I went to camp at Calvin Crest Christian Conferences outside of Yosemite in CA, and even as a camper I could tell that the staff had something about them – a peace and a joy – and I wanted that in my own life.  It was there that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. 

After graduating from high school, the church hired an Associate Pastor couple and just before they arrived the Sr. Pastor called me into his office and told me that I was going to be their intern!  Even while serving there I intended to continue studying psychology and find a career in that field, until God gave me a strong push in a different direction.  One day, the Associate Pastor talked about her husband's call to ministry saying that 9 out of the 11 people in his High School Bible study had become pastors, and at that moment God said to me, "You can do that."  I tried to ignore this prodding for a while as I continued to work at the church and pursue a degree.  Finally after much nudging and prodding by God, I mentioned this potential call to the Associate Pastor expecting her to completely disagree.  To my surprise, she said that she agreed that she also thought God may be calling me to ministry.  This was later affirmed by the church I had grown up in, and by the Presbytery of San Joaquin (the local governing body).

My time at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, was a time of faith challenges and testing, but through that process I knew without a doubt that God was calling me to full time ministry.  I was blessed to work at Grosse Pointe Woods Presbyterian Church as the Associate Pastor for over 8 years.  It was a challenging, stretching, and wonderful time of ministry with wonderful people of faith.  It was during my time at Woods that I met my husband on eHarmony.  

From June 2011 through December 2012 my life took a series of dramatic turns. In these few months, my husband and I experienced the deaths of my father and of both of his parents.  We became parents to a beautiful baby girl who is the light of our lives.  I chose to walk away from Grosse Pointe Woods and the PC(USA) after I felt that I could no longer faithfully minister in the PC(USA) after changes in the denomination, and became the Associate Pastor at the new congregation of Living Hope, Grosse Pointe.  Through this roller coaster of pain, sorrow, grief, sadness, joy and celebration, God has continued to make himself even more evident in my life.  It is with both excitement and some holy trepidation, that I can’t wait to see what God has planned next! 

God bless, Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org