Wife: Annette — Kids: McKenna, Caia, Jackson

About Stephen:
I was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia with two younger brothers. I grew up singing in the church, and gave my life to Jesus when I was 12 years old at a concert. I was a youth pastor at Creekside UMC north of Atlanta while attending Georgia Tech, and then joined the staff at North Point Community Church in Atlanta. I then joined the team at West Ridge Church in Dallas, GA and quickly met a kindergarten teacher named Annette who I married in 2002. Our three kids keep us laughing, well exercised, and poorly rested. Nothing gets me more energized than creating things…music, pictures, food, design, finger paintings…

What is your secret ambition?
To take my our entire family on a summer-long trip across Europe with just a light backpack and cameras when our kids are in middle or high school. (For one year, they’ll all be attending the same high school.)

Name one thing that most people would be shocked to know that you’ve done.
Hmmm… Either that I graduated from GT with a degree in Architecture, or that I’ve been skydiving. Or that I’ve been to both the Tonight Show with Jay Leno AND The Late Show with David Letterman (back before they both fell apart).

Have you ever gone cow-tipping?
No. But now I know what I can do this weekend!

Whats your favorite movie?
Christmas movies…almost all of them. Esp. A Christmas Story & Christmas Vacation.

Do you like to dance crazy when no one is looking?
Crazy dancing is as necessary as oxygen.

At the beach would you rather play in the sand, or play in the water?
Wherever my kids are at the moment.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
No. And if they weren’t so doggone necessary I probably wouldn’t wear shoes in the first place.

What was your favorite pet you had as a child and why?
I had a rabbit named Bouncer who went crazy and caused his own untimely demise.

If you knew today was your last day on Earth, how would you spend it and why?
Tickling my kids and singing songs to my wife (because she always complains that I never sing for her).

What is the most rewarding experience you have had and what made it so?
Moving to Charleston to help start River Church. I absolutely love this city and the people we have met.

Who or what inspires you and why?
People who endure unthinkable tragedy and choose to embrace joy and redemption rather than bitterness and payback.

If you could live anywhere in the world for just one year, where would it be?
In an apartment overlooking Central Park in Manhattan. Or in an house without walls on a tropical island.