Welcome to the team, Clay!

Restoration,

We have spent the last year seeking another person to add to our staff team [the search of a ‘3rd clergy’].  We really wanted an ordained priest who had experience with youth and a desire to build a team of folks who would disciple our middle school and high school students.  The process took longer than we anticipated, but I am thrilled with the result–  God provided the person for whom we were praying.

It is my great joy to announce that on August 15, Clay Morrison started employment at Restoration as a Pastoral Associate for Youth Ministries.  I attended his ordination to the diaconate at the end of July.  He will be a presbyter/priest sometime in early 2013.  God answered our prayers and at just the right time.  You will hear Clay preach next Sunday, August 26.  He is busy meeting the families of our youth kids.  And he is getting to know folks who might be interested in discipling our growing number of middle and high school students.  If you have a hankering for that kind of ministry, drop him a line.

-David

And now, a word from Clay…

Hey Restoration,

My name’s Clay, and I’ll be working with the youth ministry at Restoration.  I’m originally from New Jersey, and grew up in a family of six kids.  After high school, I spent about four years in Uganda and Kenya, where I did my undergraduate degree.  I moved to this area about five years ago, and when people ask me what brought me here, I’ve got one of the most predictable DC answers – first to do an internship in a non-profit, and then to go to grad school!

My wife’s name is Rachel, and she works in marketing at a transportation consulting firm.  She and I moved to DC in the same month, met about 6 months later, and have been married almost exactly two years now.  We’ve lived in DC proper and Silver Spring, and now we’re starting a NoVA chapter, so we’re definitely getting sense of the different sides of greater DC life.

I’ve been interested in church ministry for a long time now.  My bachelor’s was in Biblical and Religious Studies, and I just graduated with a Master of Divinity.  I’ve worked with youth off and on for the last ten years, both in and outside the church, and I love seeing how God works in the lives of teenagers and how he uses them to impact others.  When I’m not working, I like to read, play music, be outside, sit in coffee shops and hang out with friends.

I’m really looking forward to working at Restoration, and Rachel and I are super excited about getting to know you all and being part of your community!

-Clay