Inspire, Summer 2011

“I don’t know how to pastor without mentoring,” he explained. As Cedarville graduates can attest, this is as true in word as it is in deed. Spiritual Mentor Take Nate Bell ’10, the most recent Cedarville graduate to work alongside Pastor Wright. After attending Memorial his whole life and then interning with the youth ministry, Nate served as interim youth pastor early in 2011. Nate and Pastor Wright have shared a discipleship relationship since Nate was in high school. Always anxious to move on to the next stage of his life, Nate learned a valuable lesson while on staff. “Pastor challenged me to focus on Christ, to seek Him and find contentment and satisfaction there,” Nate said. “He has taught me to live and love wherever God has me.” Pastor Wright saw in Nate an essential quality for mentoring: a teachable heart. “If you get to the point where you can’t be taught, you won’t be effective,” Pastor Wright said. As Nate encourages other young people, this nugget of truth has proved invaluable to his own ministry. Personal Mentor Steve Dye ’89 graduated with a double major in history and preseminary Bible. He, too, grew up at Memorial and served as a part-time youth pastor intern during his senior year at Cedarville and the following summer. During their short time together, Pastor Wright met with Steve regularly and engaged with him on personal and practical matters. Pastor Wright and his wife, Sue, invited Steve over once a week to join them for a meal. There, Steve saw the inner workings of a strong family life and Pastor Wright’s commitment to personal purity as the head of his family. “Since I left Memorial,” Steve said, “Pastor Wright has continued to serve as one of my mentors and has given me sound counsel on numerous occasions.” As Steve serves today as a church planter in Berlin, Germany, he has found the lessons he learned from Pastor Wright to be indelible. He’s even had the opportunity to pass them on. Recently one of Steve’s young interns approached him, questioning his own calling. Steve responded by quoting something Pastor Wright once told him: “If you can picture yourself doing anything else, by all means do it and do not enter the ministry. Your calling to pastoral ministry must be such a strong compulsion that you can’t imagine pursuing any other career.” Joyful Mentor Ed Lanning ’86 studied Bible at Cedarville, went to seminary, and then served at Memorial for six years as an associate pastor. He remains grateful for a mentor who expressed authentic joy and love for God in everyday circumstances. “Often, you’ll hear Christians use expressions like ‘Praise the Lord’ or ‘Thank the Lord,’ and it can seem insincere,” said Ed. “But that was never the case with Pastor Wright. With him, you always knew it was genuine.” Ed went on to pastor Calvary Bible Church in Dugspur, Virginia, for more than eight years, speaking praise to the Lord at every opportunity. Chronic health difficulties forced Ed to retire from ministry, but he and Pastor Wright remain close. Pastor Wright has asked his congregation to keep his friend’s health in prayer, something Ed appreciates and believes is a testament to Pastor Wright’s faithfulness as a mentor and friend. He cites 2 Timothy 2:2 as a reflection of Pastor Wright’s influence in ministry: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” In Pastor Wright’s 30 years of ministry, he has served beside seven Cedarville grads, and the church recently called the eighth. In July, Jeff Beckley ‘04 began his ministry as associate pastor in youth and family ministries. 20 SUMMER 2011