Luke Norsworthy
Pastor
My family – I met my wonderful wife Lindsay at Abilene Christian University in the epicenter of romance, bowling class. I knew it was love when she threw her bowling ball at me. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my best friend. We have been married since 2003. Our beautiful daughter Avery was born in August of 2008 and has had me wrapped around her tiny little finger ever since then. She enjoys playing with our boxer, Chloe, reading books, and shopping with mom.
My story – I was born in Philadelphia and then my family moved to Ohio while I was in junior high. But I am now a born again Texan. While in high school I spent most of my time playing sports. During high school I started reading my Bible daily and it changed my life. When I arrived at ACU I knew my main passion in life was Jesus and so I earned a BA in Christian Ministry and a Masters of Divinity. I interned at churches in Atlanta and San Francisco and preached at churches in Moran, TX and Panama City, Fl as well as Grace Bible Study, an inner-denominational Bible study in Abilene, TX.
My vision for my area of ministry – As the founding pastor of Venture my main responsibility is the vision of Venture, the teaching, small groups and missional activity. My vision for Venture is for us to be a community of Jesus-Centered people that blesses Denton County and beyond. But most of all I want this to be a church where I can bring my friends and know they will be accepted, loved and transformed.
Ideal guests at a dinner party – N.T. Wright, Henri Nouwen, Randy Couture, Michael Scott and Nelson Mandela.
Follow Luke at twitter.com/lukenorsworthy
Molly Davis
Children’s Pastor
My family – I am the youngest of three. I am blessed to live close to my oldest brother Carter and his family. I have two beautiful nieces and a nephew who I love to spend time with. My other brother, Colin and his wife live in Rochester, NY and my parents have been missionaries in Budapest for the last 18 months. I have enjoyed traveling the world while visiting my family. My parents are currently moving back and I will be glad to have them back on the same continent.
My story – I was born and raised in Iowa. I think I will always be a mid-west girl at heart. I attended a tiny church where I started teaching Sunday school when I was 13. I realize now what a blessing it was to grow up in such a small church because I had many leadership opportunities early in life. After I graduated high school I attended Harding University in Searcy, AR. College is where I really learned what it meant to follow Jesus. I grew a lot in my faith in those four years. I knew early on that I wanted to be a teacher and went on to pursue my BA in Early Childhood Education. My oldest niece Hannah was born my senior year at Harding. I knew then I had to move to Texas, I could not imagine not being around to see her grow up. I moved here without a job but with faith that God would provide. He definitely did, more than I could have imagined. I now teach second grade in Northwest ISD and am so blessed. I began attending Richland Hills Church of Christ when I moved to Texas. I got involved with the children’s ministry almost immediately. I loved going to such a big church but started missing that small church community that I grew up in. When they announced the church plant in Denton I felt called to go and serve. So I stepped out on my own and began attending Venture. I have loved getting to know the families while volunteering with AdVenture Kids and am so excited to be serving in this way.
My vision for my area of ministry – This ministry allows me to combine my passion for Jesus and my passion for children. My vision for AdVenture Kids is to partner with kids and their families as they learn what it means to love, serve, and follow Jesus.
Ideal guests at a dinner party- Lauren Winer, Justin Timberlake, Audrey Hepburn, Irwin McManus, Stephanie Meyer.
Ben Jordan
Communication Director
My family – I often wonder how I ended up with the family I have been blessed with. My beautiful wife Leah and I met as camp counselors at Abilene Christian University where she had mercy on me and allowed me to marry outside my league. We have been happily married since 2002. We credit the success of our marriage to the friend and pastor who married us, who also happens to be the founding pastor of this church. We were blessed with a boy named Casen in December of 2007 and hope to be adding to the clan soon. Casen is 2 years old and is my absolute favorite person in the whole world. He is constantly cracking us up with his dance moves, funny faces and little things that make him who he is.
My story – I am a Texas boy and proud of it. I grew up in Tyler, TX and spent my early years playing on forts, zip lines, and staining my clothes in the West Texas Red dirt. After a 4 year stint in Olathe, KS my family moved back to Plano, TX where I spent from 6th grade on. I played Trombone in the marching band and Bass Trombone in jazz. I had some seasons as a touring musician, studio musician, caricature artist, comic book artist, Best Buy team member, camp counselor and more. After high school I went to Abilene Christian University for 5 semesters and then transferred to University of North Texas to finish my degree in Communication Design. I have been working as a designer, developer, illustrator professionally since 1998 and have loved the clients and churches I have had the opportunity to work with.
My vision for my area of ministry – My vision is to create and promote a unified brand for our church. When experiencing the church we want everything to feel like Venture and be consistent. This means building a set of photographs, graphics, fonts and other visual elements and using them to express the visual language of the Venture brand. In other words I try hard to bring the awesome daily.
Ideal guests at a dinner party – NT Wright, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln and Dale Earnhardt, no wait, not him, Martin Luther King, Jr., yeah, MLK.
Follow me at twitter.com/benjordan
