This past Sunday, Terra Nova welcomed it’s newest pastor/elder. Paul Gordon has joined the team as Stewardship Pastor after 18 months of being in process towards confirmation. Below, you will find a family bio that Paul wrote to help you get to know he and Nicole. Additionally, if you click HERE, you can see more pictures from this past sunday. Paul can be reached HERE. Welcome to the team Paul!

We are humbled to be joining the pastoral team at Terra Nova. The other elders suggested Nicole and I share a little about ourselves for those who might not know us.

We both grew up locally – myself in Middleburgh and Nicole in Voorheesville. My parents accepted Christ when I was very young and my memories are filled with watching my parents transparently grow in their faith and lead our family. It was their reflection of Christ, along with my own experiences – most notably at Bryan College in TN – that shape my faith journey, along with the irresistible presence of God in my life. Nicole came to know Christ through the witness of high-school friends and soon began growing in her faith at Westerlo Baptist Church’s teen group. Before long, Nicole’s family began to call Westerlo Baptist home as well.

Nicole and I met in a Westerlo Baptist small group in 2003 and were married in May of 2005. After our wedding, we moved to Brunswick and for the next several years Nicole finished her degree at Albany College of Pharmacy while I continued my work at First Niagara Bank in the Corporate Banking group. 2009 was a big year for us. We purchased our first home in Eagle Mills and Nicole graduated with her Pharm D, and began her career at Albany Memorial Hospital.

We owe our introduction to Terra to the Mooradian’s who encouraged me to attend Theology at the Taproom when it first launched in 2006. It didn’t take long for Nicole and I to find in Terra a community that we loved and were committed to serving. We immersed our selves in New Tribes, Imago and Poiema, serving in the monastery on teams like the Backline Crew and outside the church on meal teams at Joseph’s House. Over the past decade I was fortunate to become a licensed CPA and finish my MBA, but was routinely feeling a call to use that knowledge and experience for more than corporate gain. Through conversations with key folks in my life, including the elders at Terra, that call was being affirmed and as a result – the eldership process began in early 2008.

A common question we receive is – ‘What role will we be filling at Terra Nova?’ It is a good question – with an answer still in process. I am thankful for a group of elders that allows calling to mature and assist its development. However, in short, in the role of Stewardship Pastor I will seek to foster a culture where the stewardship of God’s resources, individual and corporate, is an ongoing act of our worship. So far this has started with efforts to revamp the financial infrastructure of Terra, as well as, with teaching and shepherding individuals on what managing their personal resources might look like. I am excited to continue and seek God’s direction on how deep the idea biblical stewardship is. I welcome your prayers and involvement toward that end as well.

Along with life at Terra, Nicole and I try to lead active lives. Nicole is a tri-athlete, and loves domestic arts like sewing, quilting, crocheting, home organization, etc. I am an avid outdoorsmen, and red sox fan, who enjoys hunting, hiking, cycling and reading. We thank you for taking the time to read about us. We love this community and pray that God may continue to use us here – for it is by His grace and for His glory alone. Bydand.

Paul & Nicole Gordon