“Churches need examples of people who have been married more than thirty years.”

They were nearly a continent away. Fred was born in Manhattan into a military family and spent most of his preteen years in Europe. Thornton-reared Becky met Fred in High School. After moving to South Carolina in his senior year, Fred was seriously injured in an auto accident. He missed Colorado and very much missed Becky. He worked construction for a short time and then joined the Air Force. Upon completing boot camp he married Becky. While in the Air Force Fred started attending College and graduated from Denver Metro with a bio-medical engineering degree. Fred works for Sun Microsystems as a Senior Director for a development organization.
Becky was a homemaker who volunteered in the school system their two sons attended. She eventually got a job in the library and now works as the payroll manager for the Adams 12 School System.

When did you become Christ followers?
Becky: Some Christian neighbors moved in and we were looking for a church. Through some discussions they witnessed to us and gave us our first non-catholic bible. We continued our search for a church and eventually found a church in the yellow pages. It was great! We attended this church for 14 years.
Fred: For the first time in my life I read the bible. In our new church we really came to know about faith, Christianity and God.
Becky: Community! The pastor played football on Sundays with the young families. We were with the church on Sundays, Wednesdays and in between. That’s when we became Christians.

What brought you to Discovery?
Fred: We drove by the Discovery signs on the street and decided to give the church a try.

You began an “empty nesters life group” last fall. Tell us about it.
Fred: We wanted to do a life group of people who are in a similar stage of life that we are in. We thought that’s where our strongest contribution could be at this stage of our lives.
Becky: Every church needs a balance of ages where life can be shared between generations.
Fred: It’s important for young and old to bridge and connect. There is a healthy cocooning with our own groups and a time to break out of our peer connections.

Fred and Becky are drivers for Becky’s elderly mother who still lives in the family home in Thornton. They have grandchildren as well.

Do schedules get easier when the kids leave home?
Becky: Not really, your priorities just change. Younger families seem to have greater demands on their time, money and spiritual lives.

How do you keep yourselves refreshed?
Fred: Its difficult, given the time constrains, but I try to have a quiet time as often as I can.
Becky: The struggle is time. Quiet time. Worship time. Those things renew me.

“Teaching kids jazzes us!”

Tom and Rachel Morris met at Christian camp in Pennsylvania. Her family was there for a reunion and Tom was there as a volunteer electrician doing repairs. Rachel is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and is an Occupational Therapist, currently working with preschool children in the Adams 12 School District. Tom is a graduate of Johnson Bible College and Regis University. He is a Project Manager for Schneider Electric.

How would these two servants, reared in Christian homes describe their early spiritual journey?
“After marriage, I owned my faith.”
“We heard a presentation on church planting from people with the Empire State Evangelizing Association and felt a call to be church planters. We were part of the team that planted Celebrate Life Christian Church in Lancaster, PA.

What did you learn from your first church planting experience?
Rachel: We loved church planting.
Tom: It is easier to change something new than something old.
Rachel: You have to be intentional with what you are doing. “Why” is always the question.
Both: We like to work together. That’s one of the good things about developing curriculum and teaching KidsQuest at Discovery, we work together.

Tell me about the children’s curriculum.
Rachel: Originally, we wanted all kids to study the same lesson – the same text or theme.
Tom: Wouldn’t it be great for parents and kids to ride home and say, “What did you study in church today?” and have them all talk about the same thing only at different grade levels? In the beginning we tried to coordinate the lessons with the sermons, but that was overwhelming.
Rachel: The lessons are on a three-year rotation. We try to summarize the Old Testament and delve more deeply into the New Testament.
Tom: The lessons are divided into 3 – 6 week units. Each unit has a theme that is connected to kid’s culture.
Rachel: We’ve done Disney’s Cars with a hot wheels racetrack. We’ve even done old radio drama clips from back in the ‘30s ‘40’s and ‘50’s. Each unit has a scripture text to memorize. We read and study what the Bible says. We use multi-sensory experiences each week to help the kids learn and remember the lesson. Large group activities bring them together. Small group activities are age-graded. Nothing is done by random occurrence.

Can the typical volunteer who isn’t professionally trained teach the kid’s material?
Rachel: We tell our workers that they are leaders. They are leading children to learn. Yes, these materials are designed for volunteers to use.

How do you keep yourselves refreshed?
Rachel: Teaching children jazzes us. We love feed back from parents. When I look around the room in adult worship and see new Christians – people who weren’t here a year ago – it keeps me going.