The Zone Gathering

Pat Thomas is on the front lines of ministry every Sunday morning at Union Station and is often the first face of NCC for guests. Leading the Hospitality ministry, her mantra is “Meet One, Greet All,” meaning that she strives every single Sunday to greet each person who walks into the movie theaters and to meet at least one new individual so that she can remember them the next Sunday.

I have had the privilege of knowing Pat for a few years, and I am always impressed with her life goal list. Even though she is just a few years older than the average NCCer, her enthusiasm and passion for life surpasses most of us. I’m surprised she didn’t say anything in here about motorcycles!

Today, we talk with Pat about life, ministry, and cheesecakes (well, she just talks about “baking,” but we all know what she really means!)

How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I’ve attended NCC almost 3 years. I had been out of church for a couple of years and I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to find a church home, so I started surfing the Internet, put in “home church” (I was actually looking for a house church) and NCC pops up. I go to the website and check it out, come to visit and have been “visiting” ever since.

Tell us a little about the small groups and/or ministries that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
I have the privilege of leading on the Hospitality Ministry. I love serving God’s people in a real and practical way. We get to show them God’s love and grace for them by greeting them; showing them to their seats, taking their gifts and serving them communion. I’m truly honored to be able to serve God in this way. And I really appreciate the team God has given me to serve with! They are a loving and Spirit-filled group of young people.

I lead the Spiritual Disciplines Small Group. We are learning about various disciplines as well as practicing them. Both of the groups, the hospitality ministry and the spiritual disciplines group, have provided additional family and close friendships. They are teaching me how to be in relationships and how to love from the heart.

Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
On Sunday mornings, I can be found at Union Station, I usually serve at the 9:30 service and sometimes at the 11:00. But I have been attending Saturday evening service at Ebenezers.

When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I started following Christ in the 11th grade through my High School’s Gospel Choir. Spiritual turning points? Well, let’s see…High School, was definitely a spiritual turning point, meeting Jesus, now that was a big highlight. Another spiritual turning point was finding NCC. I hadn’t attended church on a regular basis for a couple of years and was quite parched by the time I found NCC. When I came that first Sunday, I felt like I was drinking from a fresh spring. . .no toxins. . .no chlorine. . .no pollution. . .just refreshingly pure water that quenched my dry thirst and is still quenching my thirst weekly. Part of that quenching, I’ve come to realize is from attending my small group and serving on the Hospitality Ministry.

Tell us a little about your background.
I was born and raised in DC; I used to live around 10 blocks from Union Station when I was a little girl and I attended Kindergarten and First Grade at John A. Logan Elementary School which is down the street from Ebenezers. I have an older sister and a younger brother. A day before my 7th birthday, we moved to Frankfurt, Germany for 3 years to be near my dad who was in the Military. I really liked living there. I had my first airplane ride. We flew on a Pan Am Jet from NYC. We took a ship (the USS Rose) back. It took around us 8 days, I believe, to come back. I liked flying better that being on the ship. I was seasick for most of the trip home and I caught the mumps. I mentioned that I have a younger brother, well, my brother missed out on the Germany trip. He’s 14 years younger than I am and 17 years younger than my sister. Now, it doesn’t seem like such a wide gap in age, but when I was 20 years old and he was just 6 years old, the gap seemed like an ocean. I have 2 daughters, Catherine (Shelly) and Courtney and one granddaughter, Micaiah.

What is your favorite Scripture passage?
A couple of my favorite Scriptures are Psalm 23; Eph 3:14-21 and Galatians 5:1 in the King James version.

What are your favorite books?
Some of my favorite books are: Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard, The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer; Out of Solitude, by Henri Nouwen; Catering To Nobody and Dying For Chocolate, by Diane Mott Davidson.

What are your favorite movies?
My favorite movies are, My Man Godfrey; Luther (I like both the black & White and the color versions. They complement each other.) Old black and white movies, especially westerns; Superman (TV show and movies); Shirley Temple movies. I am now looking at old Buster Keaton movies that are black & white and silent. They are great!

What is your favorite fast food?
I like Burger King’s fish sandwiches and onion rings. Went there this past weekend! Man, what a treat!

What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
This is a hard one, let’s see. I was very serious when I was younger and didn’t smile a lot. I just thought of another one. I’ve only been baking for a few years. I used to try very hard to stay out of the kitchen. I discovered that I really enjoy baking and that it brings me joy and peace! Who knew? I, also enjoy writing poetry; I have had a couple pieces published on Poetry.com; I’ve written lyrics to a few songs, as well.

Tell us a little about your day job. What is your dream job?
I work for the U.S. International Trade Commission as an Economic Assistant (a fancy way of saying secretary). Been there around 26 ½ years. Will have a total of 30 years of service in September. This is around my 4th or 5th position there. Hopefully, I will be retiring in around 3 years or so. My dream jobs are baking and serving people. I’m hoping that my baking will enable me to serve people.

Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
Who is my hero? I really had to think about this one, I never really thought that I had one, but, one just came to my mind. It’s my Daddy! I have to tell you a little bit of our history. My parents divorced when I was around 3 months old, my mom remarried when I was around 3 years old. My step-father, assumed the role of my daddy at that time. Loving me, caring for me and providing for me as though I was his. He has never, ever, introduced me or my sister as his stepchildren or as his wife’s children. He has always said, “These are my daughters, and this is my son” (my brother is his biological child). He has always treated me just as if I am one of his; I guess it’s because I really am!

What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy reading watching old movies, baking, playing my guitar (badly); hanging out with Micaiah, hanging out at Ebenezers; hanging out with my NCC family.

In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
In NCC:THE MOVIE I guess I would be played by Alfre Woodard; If they were still alive, Pastor Mark would be played by probably a younger Gregory Peck or Cary Grant.

What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
Not sure if this will be a Pastor Markism, but I can really relate when he says, “Change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Ministry Leaders, Small Group Leaders, Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.