Jennifer McAlpine-Austin is our Connections Director at Centerpoint.
The foundation for the Connections program at Centerpoint is, of course, small groups. My dream would be to see a majority of our church body connected to the church by some means other than just Sunday worship. This might mean sermon-based small groups or other Bible studies, but I'd also like to take the vision for the Connections program out of the box and find other creative ways to connect the members of our church body to one another.
I am married to Dan, who works in IT at Borgess. I also have a 5-year old daughter, Dylann who is in Kindergarten at King-Westwood. I grew up in Iowa and my four siblings still live there, while my parents live in Minneapolis.
I love being active! I like to camp, hike, run and play basketball and volleyball. I am a huge Iowa Hawkeyes fan, so I watch a lot of football and basketball. Finally, I love hanging out at home or going to movies with my family.
I felt called to ministry during college which was when my faith in Christ became a real, integrated part of my life. I participated in a few short-term mission trips and eventually served as a missionary in Bosnia. Seminary helped to both refine and broaden my sense of call. My vision now is a bit more pliable and I desire to serve the Lord in whatever context He placees me.
I am working on the dual-track program through Western Theological Seminary. This is a unique program that combines a Master of Divinity degree with a Master of Social Work degree. I will be finished with the MDiv portion of the program in January. I am currently working on the MSW part of the program at Western Michigan and am on track to finish in 2012. The dual degree will enable me to be both an ordaiined minister and a licensed therapist.
