Staff Stories: Josh Cook
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Who I Am
I was born in the small hamlet of Lithia Springs, GA, so-named for the babbling geyser of lithium filled water that originates there. I was the middle child (can’t you tell?) in a family with three kids. I was blessed to have two parents who love me and love God. They took me to church as a very young child, and I loved it.
I can vividly remember the day when, as a seven-year-old kid, I accepted Christ. Who knows how many times I had heard the gospel before, but this time it mattered to me. I can see the rest of my Christian walk as stair-steps from there. When I was 12, I went to summer camp and realized that my relationship with God should affect the whole way that I live. God didn’t want me to just believe something; God wanted me to be something. When I was in ninth grade, I learned a little bit more about what that was when God called me to be a leader in His church. I took the first church job I could find as a 15 year old boy…I was the janitor.
I attended school at the illustrious Mercer University in Macon, GA where I learned how to fall in love with a city, how to learn and study as a pursuit of godliness, and how to serve others. God allowed me to take part in various forms of His movement by leading worship, kids ministry, student ministry, college ministry, and even mission trips. I also fell in love with a sweet, little Georgia peach named Sarah. She loves me and leads me daily to become a better man, husband, and Christ-follower. We were married the year after we graduated, and soon we packed up the U-Haul and moved to New Orleans.
I began seminary at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in August of 2012, and Sarah began teaching elementary school. We became connected with Vintage almost instantly and were soon volunteering on the vKids team and leading a Community Group. I became the leader of vKids in June of 2014 and have been a part of an awesome re-launch of vKids. It is still growing into the ministry that serves the kids and families of this city that it needs to be, but it has been such a joy seeing what God has done through it already.
What I Do
Have you ever met one of those people who have so many hobbies that they can never really settle or excel in one of them? That is me. I can say consistently that I enjoy doing almost anything with Sarah. Other than that, I like sci-fi, riding bikes, painting, working on cars, reading theology, camping, board games, comics, wood-working, drawing, writing fiction, restoring old bikes, reading fiction, festivals, running, writing non-fiction, hiking, cooking, and photography. I am also in my last semester at the seminary (W00T!), and I coach a boys U-9 soccer team.
In addition to all of that fun stuff above, I have the super-serious, high-stress, never-stop job of being the vKids leader for Vintage Church. Just kidding. If it were any more fun, I would list it as a hobby. This job has a few tasks that come with it. First, I am there for the kids of Vintage Church. This, first and foremost, means that I get the high privilege of telling kids about the gospel. This also means that I build relationships, go to birthday parties, and generally become that weird-guy-who-seems-to-like-us-a-lot-and-tells-us-the-same-thing-our-parents-are-always-telling-us-but-doesn’t-make-us-eat-our-peas for kids. Second, I am here for parents. I am always searching for ways to make parenting easier and godlier, and then passing that information along to parents. Third, I am here for my vKids leader-volunteers. These guys and girls are so awesome, because they have to be. They have a huge job! They are one of the primary influences in a child’s life. It takes patience, love, and a huge time commitment from their already busy, chaotic lives. Yet, they take time each week to teach and model the love of God to the Church of the Future. My job is to equip them to do that the best that they can. Other than that, I get to hang out and learn from the fabulous Vintage Church staff and take part in the ongoing movement of God in the city of New Orleans.