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 two boxers, Chief and 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
Shannon Plog
Children’s Pastor
My family- I am blessed to be married to Mike, the most wonderful husband ever. We have two fabulous boys, Andy and Elijah. Andy is a fifth grader and loves playing baseball. Elijah is 2 ½ years old enjoys music (drums and guitar are his favorite) and of course “playing” sports with his big brother.
My story-I have been a Texas girl all my life. I was born in Garland and grew up the oldest of four kids in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I graduated from Granbury High School and then attended Texas Christian University (Go Frogs!), where I earned a degree in psychology. I intended to take a small break before going to graduate school where I wanted to be a child psychologist, but a different path awaited me. I worked for several years coordinating an education department for a health care company and then several years in human resources at a credit union. Mike and I became more active volunteering in the children’s ministry at Richland Hills Church of Christ and eventually we were coordinating the Wednesday night program for the three to five year olds.In 2004 I left the credit union and joined the Richland Hill’s Children’s ministry staff team. During my time a Richland Hills I coordinated camps/retreats, elementary devotionals, Fall Fest and other special events. When a Saturday night service was added to Richland Hills I was excited to be the director the Saturday night elementary program. After hearing about Venture Community, we really felt God’s calling for us to be apart of sharing Jesus with the families in Denton.
My vision for my area of ministry- As the children’s pastor my main responsibility is overseeing AdVenture Kids. My vision is for this to be a community where we support kids and their families as they begin their great adventure loving, serving and becoming more like Jesus to the world around them
Ideal guests at a dinner party- Jane Austen, Stephanie Meyer, George Lucas, Deanna Troi, and Benjamin Franklin.
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
