TEAM TEACHING
Many Perspectives. One Message.
theHeart is committed to studying God's Word together from many different points of view. And though the voices and styles vary, one thing remains true: Each of us in our own way shares the Good News of Jesus Christ. Meet our Teaching Team below.
WHY I TEACH
JOSH ANDERSON
Pastor
"Teaching is like telling a story. It is one of the most personal and compelling ways for us to better understand who God is and who we are called to be as His sons and daughters. Telling a story honestly and vulnerably draws us in, it makes things known, and it moves us towards something greater—an action or an understanding we were perhaps unaware or even afraid of before. Sharing the story of God with people through teaching is a holy honor and privilege. And it is my deepest hope that I might earn the trust of others and invite them to find God’s purpose and desire for them in His story of grace-filled love and redemptive mercy."
GRAHAM AITKEN
Pastor
"The compelling story of God’s redemptive work in the world fills me with hope and sets the course for my life even in the hardest of circumstances. Our God is a healer and restorer. He is making all things new. As such, my desire is that any opportunity to teach would be rooted in these truths and offered as an overflow of God’s work in my own life. Truly we need one another as we journey together in faith. It is a gift and a privilege to share my own perspective through teaching and then to hear from others who might resonate or who may see things differently. It is my firm belief that as we share together in love we move one step closer to Christ and I can’t think of any endeavor that is more worthwhile."
ERIN DEUEL
Worship Director
"Words have the power to hurt or to heal, to bring wholeness or to bring destruction. Many of us—myself included—have experienced this power most acutely within the teachings given within communities of faith. Because of this, I don’t take being given the opportunity to teach lightly. My deepest hope is that I might bring healing words, and that the pursuit of knowing God and the truth of Divine Love more deeply would heal us—together."
ETHAN HARDIN
Next Generations Director
"Reading the Bible is a cross-cultural experience. God disclosed himself through unique historical genres—Hebrew narrative and poetry, Greek prose and correspondence—in a tapestry of revelatory expressions. Approaching the scriptures with wonderment, humility, and hope, we not only begin to see the world of its authors clearer, but our own as well, finding our very lives threaded into the same redemptive arc of which they write. I teach because I marvel at how God has made himself known and find joy in inviting my brothers and sisters to do the same. Let’s be pilgrims together on this journey into God’s heart."
AMANDA OPELT
Ministry Leadership Team
"There is so much value in sitting together as a body of believers and discerning what the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures is seeking to illuminate in our lives and in our community. I love teaching because it forces me to pay such close attention to truth, to engage and wrestle with what God might be saying to me, and then I get the privilege of inviting people along with me for that journey. The Bible was never meant to be read in isolation or studied like a textbook, but rather it is to be applied both individually and communally, with joy and with accountability. I love learning in community. And that God might be teaching me something that I can share with others to serve them in their walk with him is very exciting to me."
JOHN PAGE
Ministry Leadership Team
"Growing up in a very broken and violent home, I remember being lost and lonely, of walking along a river bank very early in the morning and crying out to the sky. When I asked God to show me if He was real, He did. I’ve been so broken, hurt, and in desperate need of Someone real that I am compelled by compassion to share the beautiful relationship that I have found. Often I am reminded of the various gospel writers and how they shared the picture of Jesus that they saw. That is what I want to do, share the picture that I have seen and still do. I am compelled by Acts 20:24 and Acts 4:13. It is one of the greatest privileges of my life to share timeless truth and great news. Doing this as a team will reflect so many different aspects of our Messiah Jesus."
