A Brief Biography for Tee Gatewood

I was baptized into the family of faith as an infant. Like many people I was nourished in the church and grew into my Christian identity as a teenager. During those years of self analysis and discovery I tasted God’s goodness at home and at my home church, First Presbyterian in Americus Ga. I was also blessed through the Chrysalis movement and through this experience got in touch with my family’s deeper theological roots in the Wesleyan tradition. My Christian identity continued to develop throughout college and was then tested as I transitioned into being an adult. In this period of crisis and self-criticism I began to hear the gospel of grace and encounter the risen Jesus through the clear preaching of the word, through the sacraments and through faithful friends.

Seeking a more articulate expression of the faith I dove back into the reformed theological tradition and read Calvin, Barth, Augustine and others. As my mind was shaped by the Spirit my vision for life in the world gradually became more personal and my way of living became more intentional. This journey for a more personal and articulate faith took a strange turn when I moved to Canada to study theology with my brother. During this time I experienced the world wide church in the most diverse city in North America. I also heard the whole of the biblical story for the first time as I studied the Old and New Testaments and became more familiar with scripture. Most importantly though, I met my wife and began to discover the gift and challenge of loving another person in response to the love of the triune God. In our common life together I have been blessed with a greater sense of God’s faithfulness and with a more acute sense of God’s provision. Both of these things have been intensified through my relationships with my two children. In and through all of these experiences I have come to trust that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and inviting us to join in Christ’s ministry.

My faith journey has been defined by a transition from an abstract and impersonal relation to God to a living reliance on Jesus and an active participation in the mission of God. This transition led me to find a place in God’s church where I could serve his people and continue to grow in faith, hope and love. After a sojourn in Scotland I found myself working as a pastoral intern in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Katrina struck the gulf coast. In the three years since then I have discovered what it means to care for people in crisis and to care for people in the every day life of the church. My ministry in Baton Rouge consisted of serving young adults in a large church and helping them to understand God’s call on all of their lives. This took shape through personal relationships, teaching opportunities and limited preaching.

Over the last three years I have continued to sense a deep call to love and serve Christ’s church. I think that it is astounding that God chooses to use broken people to do his work in the world. That he calls sinners to embody his goodness and anoints individuals within that for special service is humbling. Recognizing that, I believe that I have been called to preach the Word, teach others the way of Jesus and live in the Spirit so that others experience the freedom of God. In sum, I believe that I have been called to a ministry of word and sacrament to help meet the needs of the world and the needs of the church. My hope is that God will continue to transform my life as I participate in his mission with the family of faith.