{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Church Answers","provider_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com","title":"I Was 20, Unready, and Called to Pastor\u2014What That First Church Gave Me Still Matters | Church Answers","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"CmZn1DBCSd\"><a href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/i-was-20-unready-and-called-to-pastor-what-that-first-church-gave-me-still-matters\/\">I Was 20, Unready, and Called to Pastor\u2014What That First Church Gave Me Still Matters<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/i-was-20-unready-and-called-to-pastor-what-that-first-church-gave-me-still-matters\/embed\/#?secret=CmZn1DBCSd\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;I Was 20, Unready, and Called to Pastor\u2014What That First Church Gave Me Still Matters&#8221; &#8212; Church Answers\" data-secret=\"CmZn1DBCSd\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Church-Members-Praying-with-the-Bible.png","thumbnail_width":1200,"thumbnail_height":628,"description":"It was March 1981. I had turned 20 just a few months before, and I was in conversation with a small country church in Ohio about becoming their pastor. Looking back now, 45 years later, the whole story is a bit unusual. I knew the church because one of their previous pastors had been the youth pastor where I was a member as a teenager. God saved me when I was 13, and the church had a few youth pastors during my teen years\u2014but this pastor really challenged me to consider my calling to preach. When he himself became the senior pastor of the church I would later pastor, he invited me often to preach so I could grow in this task. He opened the door for me to do what I still love to do so much today: to preach the Word. I have no idea why that church called me as pastor, except that they were looking for someone who would come cheaply. And I would have preached for nothing! The crowd was small (only 19 people attended on the first Sunday), but those few made a difference in my life. Here are some things I remember."}