Today we shine the spotlight on one of my favorite people in the whole world. Alright, I gotta go ahead and admit it. He is actually the favorite. I know I shouldn’t play favorites when it comes to the zone leaders, but I just can’t help myself with this one.
I met Ryan Zempel back in 1999, when we were both new to NCC and there were three small groups- one for marrieds and two for singles. We became instant friends (along with several other wonderful people who remain very close friends today). We stayed in touch when I moved to Nashville , started dating several months after I returned to DC, and got married in August 2004. We love doing life together.
There are so many things I love about Ryan, but I will try to stay on point so as not to gross you out. He has a tremendous heart for discipling people and helping them become all that God has created them to be. His honesty and transparency about his own faith journey break down barriers that help others find hope, healing, and destiny in God. He is also extremely tenacious in encouraging people to become small group leaders– I like that!
So yes, Ryan is my favorite zone leader. We pulled ourselves away from the Broadway sing-alongs for long enough to capture this interview as we talk to Ryan about life, ministry, and life on the stage.
How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I have attended NCC for over 7 years. I came to DC as an intern in the summer of 1998 and was told about the church by a fellow intern (who knew the pastor who originally started NCC before Mark came along). I attended Bedside Baptist for my first six months in DC, but then began attending NCC.
Tell us a little about the small groups that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
Throughout my time at NCC, I’ve led or co-led numerous small groups – the Thursday night Capitol Hill group (back in early 2000 when it was one of a handful of groups); the Crucible group for Christians in the arts; Sexual and Relational Freedom in Christ for those dealing with sexual and relational brokenness; Discipleship Journey for Men; Journey (back when it was done before service at Ballston); and Contagious Christianity about relational evangelism. I may be forgetting one, but I think that’s it.
I think small group attendance has probably impacted me even more than leadership when I realize that I originally met my wife and many of my closest friends back in the original Thursday night small group I started attending in February of 1999.
On a more spiritual plane, however, leadership of small groups has stretched and grown me in numerous ways. It has sparked renewed commitment to Christ and given me greater insight into how God has wired me (I’ve learned through experience that I’m much more of a shepherd than a teacher).
Strangely enough, the group which probably impacted me the most was the 3-week Contagious Christianity group. I’d never considered myself much of an evangelist, but preparing for that group gave me new and greater understanding of relational evangelism, which is much more up my alley than the talking-to-strangers approach that had always defined evangelism for me.
I am now a zone leader providing support to arts groups (NCC Writers, Creative Expressions, Just Shoot Me), the social justice groups (Living Out Social Justice, Social Justice Action, The Living Room), the Spiritual Disciplines small group, and (until recently) the Buzz Group. I have the best small group leaders of any of the zones (that’s established fact). :o)
Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
Wherever Heather is (except 9:30 Union). :o) Heather and I typically float from service to service in order to stay connected with zone and small group leaders. However, she often gets tagged to point pastor a service (usually at Union), in which case that will determine where we land on that particular Sunday.
I meet with a group of guys before church which prevents me from being at the Union Station 9:30 service, which used to be our default service.
When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I grew up in a Christian family and gave my life to Christ every night of Good News Club camp (just to make sure it stuck) when I was in about second grade. Growing up, I attended a non-denominational church, then a home church, then an Assembly of God church. I enrolled in a Christian (Quaker, to be specific) college and attended an AG church while there.
A major spiritual turning point in my life came in 2000 while attending NCC. At that time I fully committed my life to Christ (up until that point, there were still some areas of my life I hadn’t surrendered to His control) and was baptized at an NCC baptism service (at a borrowed church in the pre- “Baptism by the Bay” days). It’s been a wild ride ever since.
Tell us a little about your background.
I was born in southern California, but my family moved to the woods of southern Oregon before my first birthday. When I was in 2nd grade, my family moved into a two-story log house thatwe built ourselves. I helped by scraping the bark off of logs. My mom also allowed us to scribble all
over the sheets of dry wall since they were going to be painted over anyway. It was years before they actually got painted over. :o)
I’m second out of five kids — Jesse (32), Me (29), Holly (27), Nicole (17), and Josh (11). My brother Jesse now lives in Sacramento and my sister Holly lives in Colorado. I’m the classic middle child (which is what I was for most of my childhood). Nicole and Josh were both foster kids that we ended up adopting.
I attended George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, where I majored in computer science with a math emphasis. I started out minoring in math but wised up and switched my minor to writing/literature. As a result, my transcript shows that I took Calculus III as an elective, as if I needed help in looking like a nerd.
I caught the political bug in college and moved to DC afterwards to work on a political website, which I did for the last eight years. I also caught the musical theatre bug while out here and have performed in three local community theatre productions — Kiss Me Kate, Shenandoah, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
I am married, of course, to the lovely and talented Heather Zempel, discipleship pastor extraordinaire. We met in small group, began dating after she moved back to DC after her two-year stint in Nashville, and were married in August of 2004. When I asked her to marry me, she responded, “Are you sure?” :o)
What is your favorite Scripture passage?
Define favorite. :o) The key Scripture passage for my life would have to be Deuteronomy 30:19-20: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to Him.” In my day to day life, it always comes back to this.
But in the traditional meaning of “favorite,” I’d have to go with the short and to the point Psalm 18:29b: “with my God I can scale a wall.” I love that image!
What are your favorite books?
For someone who reads a lot (or at least used to), this is a tough question. Some of my favorites are Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner; My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok; Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle; The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer; and Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
Favorite authors (all of their books) include Madeleine L’Engle, Chaim Potok, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Gilman, Robert Ludlum, A.W. Tozer (Max Lucado without the window dressing), Brother Andrew, Frank Peretti, and Brock & Bodie Thoene.
I just finished God.Com by James Alexander Langteaux and am currently reading Creators by Paul Johnson; The Revolutionary Communicator by Erik Lokkesmoe; The Matarese Countdown by Robert Ludlum; and Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers by Andrea Kay, all of which I recommend.
What are your favorite movies?
Big Fish, Finding Forrester, Moulin Rouge, Newsies, The Princess Bride, Undercover Blues, The Fifth Element, Chariots of Fire, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Singin’ in the Rain, Most, Noises Off!, I Am David, just about every animated movie, and just about every movie musical.
What is your favorite fast food?
Fazolis, Chik-Fil-A, Chipotle, and Popeyes. And by default, anybody else who has sweet tea.
What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
Is this where I confess my secret sins? :o)
I would suspect that most NCCers don’t know that I’m into the whole singing, dancing, acting thing (I don’t exactly seem like the type). And those who DO know that, probably don’t realize that it’s a recent phenomenon. I was way too insecure growing up to even dream of doing any performance type stuff and only started doing musical theatre a couple years ago.
Tell us a little about your day job. What is your dream job?
Until recently I was deputy editor of the political website Townhall.com, but I am now unemployed. A career change is definitely called for and I am therefore in the throes of thinking and praying about what my dream job is. :o)
The easy answer is performing starring roles in musicals (but not on Broadway — living in NY doesn’t really appeal to me) and getting paid enough to support a family doing that. The more difficult answer probably includes some combination of discipling, counseling, and writing. But I’m not sure yet — I’ll let y’all know when I figure it out. :o)
Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
I know his actions are a bit controversial, but I’ll have to go with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die.” Bonhoeffer took part in a plot to assassinate Hitler, and was hanged for it shortly before the end of WW2.
What do you do in your free time?
When I’m in a show, my free time is typically almost entirely consumed by rehearsals. When I’m not in a show, I often spend much of my free time preparing for auditions — going to voice lessons, dance lessons, and that sort of thing. And then there’s the frequent going to see various community theatre productions. I also read, watch movies, and occasionally find time for outdoorsy stuff like rock climbing, hiking, volleyball, and the like.
In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
For me I’ll have to go with the actor I’m most often told I look like — Christian Slater. Heather would be played by Joan Cusack. Most of the good ones for Mark have already been mentioned, but I’ll have to go with Sinbad.
What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
Most people have picked a favorite word or phrase, but I’m going to have to opt for a favorite pronunciation. There have been plenty to pick from over the years (must be a Chicago thing), but my new favorite I only noticed recently — “Wallah!” I think that’s an attempt at pronouncing “Voila!” :o)
Although I raise an objection to your outlandish assertion that the small group leaders in your zone are the best, you are one of my favorite people and probably the person at NCC I have known the longest (back when we worked in the nursery together, remember?).
And you always make me laugh…great quality to have! I even laughed out loud at your suggestion that Sinbad play Pastor Mark. Now THAT would be funny!
Sarah O.
May 16th, 2006
Another little known fact about Ryan…let me share my first remembrance of Ryan as my sister’s boyfriend. I was in DC a few summers back and was hardly settled into Heather’s apartment when she got this gleeful, wild look in her eye and said “You wanna see my bruise?” She commenced to raise the back of her shorts to reveal this awful, black, blue, brown, yellow-green, grapefruit sized bruise on the back of her leg. I thought…poor Heather; she must have had a clumsy moment, fell on the stairs, and hurt herself (she is quite accident prone; the orthopedic doctor became a close family friend as Heather had to go see him each year for some jammed finger, sprain, or break she had gotten playing football or baseball). Then she asked “you wanna know how I got it?!? Ryan pushed me into the wall!!” (huge grin on Heather’s face - she was proud of it!) Of course, I am not sure who started this scuffling match, but if I had to guess I would say Heather started it (she always did growing up). But, gee, my sister’s boyfriend was pushing hard enough to give my sister a bruise that ugly!?!?!? I was about ready to push Ryan into the wall for beating up on my sister. :o)
Welcome to the family, Ryan. :o)
Laura Mc
May 16th, 2006
There is a special place in my heart for Ryan - we were nerds together in college (great memories!) and like he said, I would never have guessed he would become a singing-dancing man. He’s also the one who introduced me to NCC. At his invitation, I actually went to a small group event before I ever went to a Sunday service. I do however, have to take exception at the statement that all the best leaders are in his zone, since I have never been in his zone!
Kathryn Parent
May 17th, 2006
admittedly I am shocked that your “theater-self” wasn’t called into action until recently!!! it just seems like part of you…but then again, that is a source of our commonality…reminds me of Lewis when he talks about needing other lights besides our own to reveal a person’s many facets and to call the whole person into action…love how everyone knows a different side of Ryan…and you (and Heather) just make me
smile;-)
shuttergirl
May 18th, 2006
Sarah, I’ll never forget our nursery days. Fun times, fun times.
Ryan Z
May 23rd, 2006
[...] How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC? I’ve been attending NCC for a little over four years. I met up with an old college friend, Ryan Zempel, at the Third Place for an NCC event featuring small groups. A few weeks later I attended on a Sunday morning, and that same evening went to Ken Archer’s sermon discussion small group at Anita and Franklyn Cater’s home. I’ve been a regular ever since. [...]
The Zone Gathering » Blog Archive » Tuesday Spotlight: Kathryn Parent
November 7th, 2006