 Ministry
Team
Shawn Wallace, Senior Pastor
After an 18 month
search, we were
delighted to welcome Shawn Wallace and his wife, Michelle, on
September 1, 2009!
Shawn is from the Tulsa area, having grown
up in Coweta and Broken
Arrow. He was born into and grew up in the Disciples of Christ
church. He was baptized in the church body by his grandfather,
Paul
Wallace. (Paul served as senior pastor at First Christian Church
of
Rogers from 1960 to 1963.)
Shawn first heard God's calling when
he was
deciding where to attend college. He felt the urge to attend
Texas
Christian University and after completing his undergraduate
degree in
business administration continued on into seminary and became an
ordained minister in 2005. Shawn served Disciples churches in
Amarillo and Wichita Falls as an undergraduate and as youth and
young
adult pastor in McKinney while in seminary and after he was
ordained.
Shawn was also very actively involved in Chi Rho and CYF camp
activities while in seminary. His musical gifts include singing,
playing the guitar and trumpet.
He and wife Michelle met at TCU. When Michelle moved to
Boston in 2006 to study for her masters degree, Shawn followed
and looked for employment in the Boston area so they could
continue their relationship. They were married in 2007.
Since there are very few Disciples churches in the
Northeast --
only one
in the entire Boston area -- Shawn decided to seek employment in
an
urban black church. He wanted to develop his God given ability
to
relate to and engage diverse groups of people. He also wanted to
hone
his gift for dynamic preaching. He is completing a two year
pastoral
residency program at Charles Street A. M. E. Church designed to
prepare young minister for senior pastor responsibilities.
Charles
Street is a large, very historic congregation and he has had the
opportunity to participate in all aspects of pastoral care and
ministry.
His experience at Charles Street A. M. E.
prepared him well and we are well pleased that his faith
walk brought him to First Christian Church of Rogers.
Shawn enjoys soccer, wake boarding, snow skiing and snowboarding
and
he and Michelle enjoy country, swing and salsa dancing. He is an
avid
TCU fan (check his web address) and was honored to serve as
Super
Frog, the TCU mascot, while in college.
Michelle Wallace grew up in the Ft.
Worth area. She was baptized at age fourteen in the Baptist
Church. She is now a Disciple of Christ. As
previously mentioned, she and Shawn met while they were at TCU.
Michelle knew almost all of Shawn's family before she met him.
She
then met Shawn and the rest, as they say, is history. Her
undergraduate degree is in communication studies.
Michelle wanted to pursue a masters degree in organizational -
corporate communication. Of the three colleges that she
considered,
she chose to attend Emerson College in Boston. Now in Rogers,
she is seeking a position where she
can use for gift for training.
While at Charles Street A. M. E, Michelle
taught a student Bible study, chaired the
Youth
Revival and worked with the Women's Missionary Society.
In addition to dancing with Shawn, Michelle enjoys cooking and
looks
forward to growing her own garden. She also wants a chocolate
lab,
who's name will be Daisy.
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