Celebrating Our Story

December 11th, 2018 | April Karli

At Austin Mustard Seed we’ve had a lot to celebrate lately. There have been many changes in our leadership since the summer. Throughout the process, we’ve had a clear sense of God’s presence and feel gratitude for God’s direction and provision. We believe it is gratitude that gives us joy, and we are thankful to experience shared joy as a community this Advent season. 

This month we commissioned four leaders in our church. On December 2, April Karli and Daniel Read were commissioned as pastors, and on December 9, Ashley Blackwell and Shane Blackshear were commissioned as lay pastors.

We believe gifting qualifies a person for leadership, not gender. Because of this, we are so pleased to see April in the role of pastor at our church. April and her family have been at Austin Mustard Seed since 2014. She served on the Leadership Team as well as in the role of Interim Kids’ Coordinator for the past two years. Daniel has been part of AMS since the beginning. His role has grown over the years from planning music and liturgy to taking on some pastoral care and leadership on the staff as well. Daniel and April bring many years of ministry experience, creativity, and energy to our church’s leadership. We are excited to formally recognize and commission them as pastors in our church.

Our new lay pastors, Shane and Ashley, have served on the Leadership Team for over two years alongside April. Ashley oversees the Stewardship Team and Shane is championing our new discipleship efforts. They each bring a lot of wisdom and discernment with them as well as a love for our church and our city. We look forward to seeing them grow in their leadership and the positive impact that will continue to have on our community.

Along with the rest of the staff, these four have been praying, dreaming, and planning for the future of Austin Mustard Seed. They all continue to grow in their love for one another and for our church. We look forward to sharing more about plans for 2019 in the coming weeks and inviting you all to be a part.

You can read more about everyone on our Leadership Team and Staff here.