Interview Assessment #3

Contact(s):

Damon Passons - Central Childrens Pastor

Church:
Hope Fellowship
Date:
September 30, 2015
Analysis:
M
inutes before my arrival at Hope Fellowship, my contact, Executive Pastor Mark Lunsford,
cancelled on me. Determined to meet with a professional, I approached the front desk and asked to
see any available staff member. The result was an interview with Childrens Pastor Damon Passons.
My expectations were low. I have no interest in becoming a childrens pastor, so I wasnt sure how
relevant the interview would be. To Gods glory and my surprise, the next hour consisted of
countless stories and lessons to be absorbed and applied to my own life.
As the Central Childrens Pastor, Passons casts vision, provides direction, and conducts
discipleship with his leaders. He constructs organization and structure for the massive volunteer
operation that is childrens ministry. He believes his call is to build leaders and change lives.
Alongside his church family, Passons also aids in Hope Fellowships Project Serves. Serve Team Six
helps the helpless. The churchs outreach includes homeless shelters, feeding resources, and
international missions.
Prior to becoming the Central Childrens Pastor at Hope, Passons planted a church and
pastored it fifteen years ago in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Pastor Passons emphasized the
importance of obedience. I shared with him my interest in planting a church outside of the Bible Belt
and he commended that desire, but cautioned that obedience is more important than sacrifice.
There are lost and broken people everywhere, an assertion that he supported with numerous stories
about his experiences that coincided with his church planting adventure in the heart of the Bible
Belt. Passons was initially hostile toward his former senior pastors suggestion to plant in
Chattanooga, Passons hometown. But by prayerfully seeking Gods guidance with his wife, Passons
obeyed. He took with him a few friends, his wife, and $100,000 to start the church and concluded
that planting the church was the hardest thing hes ever done. Time was a struggle, finances were a
struggle, work was a struggle, but God provided in faithfulness.
Passons family fell apart when he was in high school. His parents divorced. His sister fell
away. They scattered across the country. When Passons came home to Chattanooga, by the power
and will of God, his family came together again. His dad came home, turned back to Christ and
became a contributing member of the church. Furthermore, an older couple that became members of
Passons church moved to Haiti on mission and was supported by church funding. Such life change

and impact would not have been possible without Passons obedience to Gods calling, despite his
initial hostility. Wherever God calls, go.
Passons went on a tangent in our discussion to talk about the importance of margin. He told
a story about how he saw and ignored a helpless man trying to fix his car on the side of the road.
Passons was burdened by church work and felt rushed to quicken his post office visit. After ignoring
the helpless man, Passons was struck by his hypocrisy. Isnt the duty of the church, the duty of the
Christian, to aid the least of these in their afflictions? He turned his car around, only to find that the
man had disappeared. From that day on, Passons acknowledged the importance of margin. The Holy
Spirit speaks and moves in our margin. Do not quench the Spirit. His words of advice gave me chills.
The day prior to my meeting with Damon Passons, I quit baseball for this very reason. My
coincidental meeting with Pastor Passons, a man I never would have met without Gods guidance,
affirmed what I believed to be an act of obedience that I prayerfully decided to take. God works in
mysterious ways. Everyone has a story to share. Everyone has wisdom to impart. Everyone can be
learned from. I thank God for humbling me and opening up my eyes to see the world the way He sees
it.
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and
clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them,
Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
-Matthew 25:37-40