Each year the Free Methodist Church celebrates our incoming elders – leaders who have dedicated themselves to God’s work in the world. Sean Anthony Fenner shares his story of how he first experienced God in his life, how he made the decision to enter into ministry, and why he chose to serve in the Free Methodist Church.
# How did you first experience God and choose to follow Christ?
The first Sunday of January 2008. I came to Light and Life North Long Beach and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior as I accepted the altar call invitation that first Sunday. No looking back!
I immediately felt invited and connected. My wife and I attended a meeting with our Pastor and he started building a relationship with us from our first day there. We call our church the “people loving place” and I felt the love of Christ and heard it from God’s people. My experience awakened a desire to daily experience God’s love in me, to be shared with others. We joined a small group, got involved with serving, got baptized, served on a mission trip in Indonesia, and within 4 years I was working on staff. It’s good to belong!
# How did the Spirit guide you to your current ministry and what has God called you to do through your ministry?
A team model has always been on my heart for ministry and accountability. I felt God asking me to always travel with a disciple as my national speaking platform began to grow, and have felt God asking me to be a part of a ministry team ever since.
At Light and Life we are passionate about all people of all ages from all backgrounds, and the Revelation 7 (“every tribe and every tongue”) expression of the Body of Christ. Here we have the opportunity to live that out as I lead a diverse staff and we influence diversity in the Kingdom from our own backyard to countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic.
# How did you come to first be involved with the Free Methodist Church and why have you chosen to continue your ministry as an Elder in the Free Methodist Church?
From day one at Light and Life I was taught the values of living out our Five Freedoms. I was first exposed in 2013 to the History and Polity / Wesleyan Theology Classes, and fell in love with our expression in the body of Christ. It sent me on a path to learn, grow, and share with as many people as possible the powerful move of God that our history was birthed in, and to link that history with the move of the Spirit of God in the here and now.
I’ve spent the last 7 years searching for, participating in, and connecting with opportunities for the FMCSC to live out being the best expression that we can be based on the theology and values that we cling to. That search and commitment has led me to ordination, and I am excited to serve and grow in this family in the ways that God allows and our leaders see use for my gifting.
