Meet Chris Sturgeon. He is the Pastor of Connections and Growth at Ascent Community Church.  Chris is a man who found his path early on life and has had the dedication to follow that journey through all the highs and lows.  Along the way he married, moved to Lafayette, and now has a wonderful family.  He’s a secret ambassador of Patagonia clothing and a not-so-secret fan of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Chris your enthusiasm for life and welcoming warmth certainly confirm you are exactly where you need to be.  We are grateful to have you in our community!

 

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?

A: I’ve been a Pastor professionally for eleven years. I’m the kid that grew up in the church. My parents separated when I was in 8th grade and when that happens kids may begin to seek out stability and foundation in their life, which for me was within church. I plugged in to youth groups. I was going to church every Sunday morning and going to Sunday school. In the summers I volunteered as a cabin leader counselor at a youth camp my church hosted.  While at camp, when I was 16 years old, I gave my first sermon. Some of the adults who were there spoke to me and said they saw a particular gift in me for ministry, which I was also feeling something towards internally. From 16 on I never planned to do anything else.  I was a good student and I found a lot of identity in high school, getting good grades, and involved in honors classes, etc. and I always remained very involved in the church. I went to a state school for college and took religious studies.  It was super challenging! I first started working in a hospital, admitting people, and then decided to do a year internship in college ministry at my campus. After that I headed out to Los Angeles for seminary – and that was a BIG change! That was really an eye opening experience.  I then spent three years in Pasadena for graduate school. I met my wife there, got married, and moved to the Bay Area where I took a position in a church to work with middle school kids. I was there for seven years. The guy who hired me right after grad school is now one of the co-pastors and founders of Ascent. We worked together there for 3-4 years. As Ascent was growing he called up me up and told me about an opportunity… and that’s how we got here!

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Louisville and Lafayette, and what do you love there?

A: My wife and I like to try new places and with two little kids you don’t get to do that too often.  A place we recently checked out was in Boulder called No Name Bar.  This stop was after a very detailed-agenda-of-a-date, with numerous stops, that I had created for the night. Ha.

Q: How long have you lived or worked in Louisville and Lafayette?

A: We got here September of 2016.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?  And why?

A: This has been a rather cold winder, so maybe a nice warm trip to an island in the South Pacific… maybe Fiji, would be high on the list right now.

Q: What is your favorite movie OR what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?

A: I remember the first rated R movie I saw in a theatre, which was True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger. My favorite movie of all time is Hot Rod.

Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?

A: I recently read an article about loneliness as an epidemic in the United States.  Today, we aren’t typically surrounded by family as we once were, when people sat on their front porches.  I suppose the advice would be to know your neighbors, be a part of a church, make some choices in your life to create space to have a relationship with the community. I think that’s how you grow as a person and grow spiritually. We are not made just to be stagnant.

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: I hope to own rental properties someday in order for me to create a passive income that allows me to fully pursue my family, and the strengths, gifts, and calling in my life.

Q: What is your favorite music/ 3 bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?

A: In high school I loved, and still love, the band Weezer. I’d love to see them play songs from the Pinkerton album, which they’ve rarely ever done. American Pie by Don Mclean makes me think about my dad, it’s one of his favorite songs.  So, that would be pretty special.  I also think it would be pretty awesome to see The Beatles in concert.

Q: What current / former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Louisville and Lafayette?

A: The Huckleberry – they have delicious food! When we first moved here we didn’t have office space in this building, so I would go work at Bittersweet a lot.  I love to sit out on the front porch and work from there. There is a fairly new spot in Lafayette called Brew Due South that has become one of my places that I go to work at now.

Q: Choosing anyone alive and a non-relative: with whom would you love to have lunch?  Why?  Where in Louisville and Lafayette would you have lunch?

A: N.T. Wright – he is the archbishop of Durham and Anglican Church. He is prolific writer, incredible thinker and I really enjoyed his work. I would love to meet him, share a meal, pick his brain and hear what makes him tick. On a warmer day on the upper level, it’d be nice to hang with him at a place like Waterloo.

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Louisville and Lafayette?

A:  One thing I noticed when I moved here, was that people seem to have more space in their lives and are more open to relationships and connections.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

A: We’re here for good.  We love it here.  We’re a ski family and we love to spend time in the mountains and be outside.

Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

A: I had a buddy in college who had been our school’s mascot.  He was the #1 ranked mascot in the country because he could ride a 6 foot unicycle in costume while juggling basketballs. He designed his own mascot character named Blooper who was a blue baboon with an orange butt. I spent a summer traveling the country going to minor league baseball games with Blooper the blue baboon, and we would do skits on field and do crowd work. My job was to carry his ladder and props when he rode his 6 foot unicycle around the bases.

Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

A: Family, Relief and Gift… I’m just deeply grateful that going home is a place where I’m always relieved and it is a safe, comfortable place. That speaks to where my wife is, and the relationship that she and I have, and the relationship we have with our two daughters.

Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?

A: Andy Samberg, it’s going to be a funny movie.

Q: If you had a full time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose?

Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?

A: An admin. The core of my professional gifting is not administrative!

Q: Is there something that you can add that would benefit or add value to the community, what do you think would that be?

A: There are a lot of traffic lights out here. I always joke that no matter where I’m going around here it will take 15 minutes.  If there was a magical way to have an express route, that would be great.