MEET CHRIS RANSBOTTOM He was a "typical college punk”– flat-billed hat on backward, high-top shoes on his feet, and earrings in. "This kid needed Jesus,” according to the family he was serving Sunday morning at Buffalo Wild Wings. The reality was that Chris Ransbottom, then a college freshman at Texas A&M University, already had a long background in leadership—specifically in church and student ministry. This included being a student leader at his home church youth group, starting a Tuesday morning Bible study at Midlothian High School, planning "See You at the Pole", and free car washes as an evangelical outreach.
“I had always had the dream of either being a preacher or a teacher.” “I love that arena. So, I always found myself naturally in leadership positions at a young age. I’m an only child. I grew up with a single mom. My dad passed away when I was three years old. So, I grew up really quick.” The family Chris encountered that day in 2009 at Buffalo Wild Wings had just moved to College Station to plant a new church. He told them that he plans on going to seminary after A&M and wanted to get on board with their plant. When he said that, it shocked them.
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As the first member of that church, Chris went through an eight-month planning process–from finding a location, to building a launch team, to handling the finances. At some point over his four years at the church, he served on every position on staff except worship and lead pastor. Whenever [he] "started seeing people as individuals, and not just the church as a whole,” he began seeing the path to seminary. “I’m walking in and seeing my waitress as somebody who needs Jesus,” Chris said. “I’m seeing the cashier at HEB as someone who needs Jesus. My roommate. The person living across the hall from me. The person in class with me. The person next to me on the bus. Everybody was somebody who needed Jesus. And I started seeing people as individuals with hopes and dreams. As the new FBC Midlothian Student Pastor, Chris sees an opportunity to “build something out of nothing.” Chris says, "we have the ability to evaluate what we’re currently doing and ask the questions of, ‘Are these things being productive? Are they accomplishing the goals that we want to see accomplished in our student ministry?’” So Chris, and the student ministry team, created a game plan. They had to think through how the student ministry would support the overall mission of the church–living and loving like Jesus. They dis-
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