Brian Jacobson: Pastor
Brian, Courtney, and Theo Jacobson
Fun fact: I'm a twin, born in the twin cities, during the year of the bicentennial. Not surprisingly, perhaps, I've always loved $2 bills.
I grew up in quite a few different places and have moved approximately 23 times as a result. Part of the reason for that is that my folks were missionaries, first in the Ivory Coast (West Africa) where I spent a few years as a kid, and then for a year in Paris, France. Despite all that moving, however, including stints in Southern California and Seattle, WA, I'm still mostly Missourian when it comes down to it (though I'm told that my years here in Wisconsin are starting to rub off on some of my vowels). I can certainly see the impact of Wisconsin in my love of cheese, but then, I've never been a beer drinker so l can't ever truly be "from" here.
My parents divorced when I was 12 and I pretty quickly decided that if the God they purported to serve couldn't keep them together, then I wasn't all that interested in Him either. I spent a couple teenage years living into a caricature of the rebellious, drug-addled, prodigal son, until my dad died suddenly and I was confronted with the depth of my need for a real relationship with the Living God. I graduated high school in 1994, got saved in 1995, and started college in 1996.
I got my undergrad in Religious Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO in 2000. While I was on campus I was very involved with an Assemblies of God campus ministry called Chi Alpha (XA) and I still owe that group a significant debt of gratitude for teaching me about discipleship, the power of prayer, and walking with Jesus. My master's degree, which is rather pretentiously called a "Master of Divinity", is from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. (2003).
In 2004 I became the College Ministries Director at a large Presbyterian Church (First and Calvary in Springfield, MO) and it was there that I first came to realize that despite my great affection for the Assemblies of God, I well and truly belonged in the Reformed theological tradition and in a Presbyterian church. And so it was that after 6 years in college ministry at that church I moved into ordained ministry and in August of 2010 became the pastor here at FPO.
I’ve been married to my wonderful wife Courtney since June 10, 2000 and after years of hoping and praying and walking through the heartache of infertility, God brought our son Theo into our lives through the gift of adoption in September of 2010.
I enjoy sports, movies, video games, hunting, knives, camping, fire, bacon, wood-carving, reading about wizards, orcs, culture, and theology, spending time with my family and friends, and, honestly, being the pastor of this church.
My favorite color is orange. My favorite band is Pink Floyd. My middle name is Maurice. I eat my steak rare.
Fun fact: I'm a twin, born in the twin cities, during the year of the bicentennial. Not surprisingly, perhaps, I've always loved $2 bills.
I grew up in quite a few different places and have moved approximately 23 times as a result. Part of the reason for that is that my folks were missionaries, first in the Ivory Coast (West Africa) where I spent a few years as a kid, and then for a year in Paris, France. Despite all that moving, however, including stints in Southern California and Seattle, WA, I'm still mostly Missourian when it comes down to it (though I'm told that my years here in Wisconsin are starting to rub off on some of my vowels). I can certainly see the impact of Wisconsin in my love of cheese, but then, I've never been a beer drinker so l can't ever truly be "from" here.
My parents divorced when I was 12 and I pretty quickly decided that if the God they purported to serve couldn't keep them together, then I wasn't all that interested in Him either. I spent a couple teenage years living into a caricature of the rebellious, drug-addled, prodigal son, until my dad died suddenly and I was confronted with the depth of my need for a real relationship with the Living God. I graduated high school in 1994, got saved in 1995, and started college in 1996.
I got my undergrad in Religious Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO in 2000. While I was on campus I was very involved with an Assemblies of God campus ministry called Chi Alpha (XA) and I still owe that group a significant debt of gratitude for teaching me about discipleship, the power of prayer, and walking with Jesus. My master's degree, which is rather pretentiously called a "Master of Divinity", is from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. (2003).
In 2004 I became the College Ministries Director at a large Presbyterian Church (First and Calvary in Springfield, MO) and it was there that I first came to realize that despite my great affection for the Assemblies of God, I well and truly belonged in the Reformed theological tradition and in a Presbyterian church. And so it was that after 6 years in college ministry at that church I moved into ordained ministry and in August of 2010 became the pastor here at FPO.
I’ve been married to my wonderful wife Courtney since June 10, 2000 and after years of hoping and praying and walking through the heartache of infertility, God brought our son Theo into our lives through the gift of adoption in September of 2010.
I enjoy sports, movies, video games, hunting, knives, camping, fire, bacon, wood-carving, reading about wizards, orcs, culture, and theology, spending time with my family and friends, and, honestly, being the pastor of this church.
My favorite color is orange. My favorite band is Pink Floyd. My middle name is Maurice. I eat my steak rare.
Bill Ver Velde: Associate Pastor of Youth Ministry
Bill, Morgan, Brynn, and Collin Ver Velde
First off, hooray to FPO for their willingness to have a youth worker in his 30s! I am so grateful that FPO has put up with me for the past 9 years! Even more than that, they've supported me all the way from being my first church to becoming an ordained pastor in our denomination ECO. That's only a glimpse, but it's why I love this place so much!
My wife Morgan and I are high school sweethearts and we both grew up in Oostburg! It crazy that Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, but we have the blessing of being embraced in our hometown Oostburg.
I'm so thankful to be in a place where I get to do the only thing I've ever been good at - youth ministry. Knowing what it's like to be a kid growing up in Oostburg also makes for great "street cred" with the students. Who am I kidding? I'm a dad who consumes news feeds and listens to podcasts. I have no street cred at all.
Regardless of the fact that I'm a street cred-less dad in his 30s, I love Jesus. And if it's one thing I've learned over the past 9 years, when you point students to Jesus over and over again, they fall in love with him too. I couldn't be more blessed to have the opportunity to do just that. Check out what's happening with our students by visiting FPOYM's Facebook page.
My wife Morgan and I are high school sweethearts and we both grew up in Oostburg! It crazy that Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, but we have the blessing of being embraced in our hometown Oostburg.
I'm so thankful to be in a place where I get to do the only thing I've ever been good at - youth ministry. Knowing what it's like to be a kid growing up in Oostburg also makes for great "street cred" with the students. Who am I kidding? I'm a dad who consumes news feeds and listens to podcasts. I have no street cred at all.
Regardless of the fact that I'm a street cred-less dad in his 30s, I love Jesus. And if it's one thing I've learned over the past 9 years, when you point students to Jesus over and over again, they fall in love with him too. I couldn't be more blessed to have the opportunity to do just that. Check out what's happening with our students by visiting FPOYM's Facebook page.
