Chris Mayfield's Bio
Life Story: I was born in Ft. Worth, Texas and for the most part grew up there through my teenage years. I learned a lot growing up through divorce and moving around, more than I wanted. For the most part I struggled like every other guy growing up in the 70's and 80's. It wasn't until I was 15 years old that I was introduced to Jesus Christ. I was attending a church strictly to get closer to my girlfriend... I definitely wasn't looking for God but he was pursuing me in a major way.
That night my life changed forever. At the time I didn't realize what I had done. God had altered my life forever, and had so much in store for me, I had no idea. I also didn't realize what an awesome display of grace had happened, I was no longer headed in the wrong direction. Everything that I had pursued before now paled in comparison to marching toward the King.
One of the best chapters of my life is my family. At Oklahoma Baptist University, where I graduated with a degree in History and a minor in Education, God introduced me to my gorgeous wife Cheramy. We were married on July 15th, 1995, and since then life has been so eventful. God has blessed us with three kids; Caleb, Taylor, and Addisyn, and we have so much fun everyday of our life. I am blessed when I am at home with my family just hangin and enjoying the moment.
I have had the privelage working with 5 great churches through my 13 years of vocational ministry. God has taken me from Texas to Oklahoma over to Georgia and back to Texas before my newest part of the journey in Washington state. God really began to open my eyes to the idea of starting a church that could be relevant now, when I started a student ministry in Houston and saw it become life-changing for so many ages and backgrounds. It was there where we served for 7 1/2 years that God prepared our hearts for The Journey.
The next part of my story is being written right now. We have begun the newest part of our journey here in Seattle and we are so excited about where God has brought us at this moment. I still don't know much but I do know this, I am going to be obedient today, and when I wake up tomorrow I will be obedient that day, until God chooses to write a new chapter in my story.
Sensing A Call: God gave me a dream about 8 years ago to live in the hill country and I always believed that would be Austin, TX (where the greatest college football team ever plays). A couple of years ago I began to pursue that dream and met with a man that helped plant churches in Austin. As I began to push my agenda I realized nothing was going to happen. So when I finally released my interpretation of that dream, I began to see the hill country God was talking about was much bigger than what I had had planned.
The night that Cheramy and I talked about it and I began to release Austin and say to God, "ok I really will go anywhere," He began to set His plan in motion. It was then over a 5 month process that God unveiled his goal for us and that was the Pacific Northwest and Seattle, Washington(true hill country).
Vision For The Journey: My vision for the The Journey is that we will be a people and not a place. A living and breathing organism that changes day in and day out. I want everyone to understand that we are on a journey and we don't know how it will turn out, but we will continue to march to the King.
I have a vision that we will be a place with much diversity. I see all walks of life connecting with The Journey in so many different ways. In its simplicity we are here to "love God and love people," but to do that in relationships, sin, and this world we live in, we will have to continue to fight to keep that our mission.
I have a desire to teach and model for people that it is a relationship not a religion. If anything I want to run when people say religion. I want people to understand that it is a relationship with Jesus Christ that saves, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ that sustains, and it is a relationship with Jesus Christ that overcomes, in the walk we call the journey.
