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.
