PastorProfile:Barry Settle

Church: Ward AME Church

How Long at church: Ten months

Hometown: Los Angeles

Family: Wife Rochelle, three adult children

What was your path to ministry?

In my mid-late 20s, my life started falling apart and the way I see it now is that God was removing people from my life. Friends moved away, relationships dissolved, and I guess that was a point where God was dealing with me. I started experiencing restless nights with my name being called in the middle of the night, waking up to see who it was and nobody being there. I expressed that restlessness to my pastor who prayed with me. I never dreamed or thought I wanted to pastor but over a number of months, I reluctantly accepted the call to ministry, not really knowing what it was going to become, but feeling it was what God wanted me to do.

I was working in Pasadena and Fuller [Theological Seminary] was right around the corner and I decided to take a class. So, it started with theological education and becoming ordained. After my ordination, there was a period where I thought there had to be more than just standing up on Sunday and reading a scripture or leading the Bible study.

Was faith always a part of your childhood?

I wouldn't say I grew up super religious, but faith was a central foundation

What initially brought you to Ward AME?

Somebody at my job who kept inviting me to church. I would never go, but it got to a point where I needed something and accepted her invitation to visit Ward and I’ve never turned away since then.

You started in ministry late?

Yeah, I was ordained through the AME Church in 2001 and became an itinerant deacon in 2003. I was offered the job as assistant pastor at Ward. I got my first church at the age of 40 when I was asked to make a big leap of faith leaving Los Angeles to pastor in Kansas City.

What did you learn about yourself through that process?

To trust God even when your back is against the wall, because when I left L.A., the income difference was huge. I probably lost about $40K in annual salary. My wife had to quit her job. I had three kids. I wasn't making a lot of money, but God was able to take care of me in a place where I could not take care of myself and that taught me a lot about the faith journey and God making a way. Today when I face impossible situations, I draw from that experience that God's done it before and will do it again and that's what I use to en- people as best as I can, and to take them where I think God is calling us at this time. My first sixseven months here, I'm just trying to get reacquainted with the people who knew me as Barry. They saw me get ordained. They saw my children get baptized. But I've been gone for 16-17 years, so there's been some re-establishing of boundaries and relationships.

We have some challenges here internally with the building and the structure and trying to implement some ministry programs here and it's been difficult, but I'm looking forward to thriving ministry here, to impacting the community and helping people.

What’s the biggest challenge in terms of getting Ward back to where it once was or is that the goal?

It's funny, I was at a meeting in in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, and I bumped into Bishop Reed and he told me, ‘I want you to go in lead Ward. I'm not telling you to lead them to what they were, but to lead them to where God is calling them to be. That's my prayer for you.’

So, what I want to do is to develop relationships so that the people will have faith and trust that they can come to the church and have their tangible and spiritual needs attended to. That only comes through relationship. I'm not the most extroverted person in the world, but I do believe in authentic relationships with the people who come through these doors for worship and with the community.

Are most of your members are commuting and is it an older crowd? If so, how will you reach out to a younger crowd?

There are people that live in the community, but there are also those who live in Pasadena, Inglewood, Long Beach and Carson. I live in the Inland Empire. Even though all the churches are going after the youth, I do not want to forget about our seniors. I'm 57. I want to reach those older than me and I want to reach those in my age bracket, as well as the members that are my children's age and my children range from 22 to 30. I am looking to be able to impact lives multi-generationally and I pray that our worship experience ministers to all.

What do you believe to be that biggest skill, gift or talent that will help you reach your goals? Semantically, God has given me the gifts to be able to tap into the hurt and pain and struggles of society, multigenerational, from the seniors to the single mother to the married couple who's struggling in their relationships. That's what I leaned on trusting that God has equipped me for this moment for this time at Ward.

There is a changing of the guard in the L.A. faith community… Right. You got some pretty big people checking out, so I think Ward is prime. This is perfect timing.

When you preach on Sunday mornings, is there a theme that you rest on a lot?

Our theme for the year is “Dare to hope” and I want people to leave having hope in a God that they cannot see, but is capable of providing for their every need and creating a productive life for them for His glory.

My son was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last year, and it has been an extremely difficult year for not only him but my entire family and so I've had to draw in on the faith I preach every Sunday. I think it was Gardner Taylor that said, ‘Faith doesn't mean anything until it means something in the context of your daily life’. And so, it's helped me to realize that I'm in this struggle with everybody else. So, I have to preach something that ministers not only to them, but to my-

Is that the biggest challenge you've ever had to face?

By far personally, and from a ministerial capacity. This has been the most difficult season of my life,

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