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T4G Interview Series: Mike McKinley (Part 2)

We continue our interview of Mike McKinley…

6) Favorite biographies?

The Plain Mr. Knox by Elizabeth Wheatley
Thomas Cramner: A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Derek Jeter by Michael Bradley

7) What will you be speaking on at T4G (talk title and summation of content)?

My title is “Unity, Not Uniformity: Diversity in the Body of Christ”.  I hope to talk about the kinds of diversity we should expect to see in the local church, why gospel ministry should normally create diversity in the church, how diversity is a particularly effective witness to the gospel in our day and age, and how we can take steps to cultivate diversity in the local church.

8)Which of the main T4G speakers could you “take to the mat” so to speak?

I am definitely not too humble to speculate.  I think every Reformed pastor in America has secretly gone over this in his head.  Every male is supposed to think he can take any guy in the room at any time, so I’ll go right after the Big Presbyterian.  He’d be the biggest challenge.  Why am I answering this question?

9) Why are you excited about T4G?

I have been so encouraged by the two previous T4G conferences.  My wife and I have served as ushers at the previous conferences just so that we could attend.  So I can’t wait to hear the speakers, fellowship with other pastors and leaders, join in the singing, and be reminded of the greatness of the gospel and the privilege of being in ministry.

10) Anything else we should know or you’d like to say?

I think the Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl this year.  Granted, I think that every year.  But this year, I’m really confident.

T4G Interview Series: Mike McKinley (Part 1)

Mike McKinley is a pastor and regular blogger over at 9Marks. Here is part 1 of his interview.

1) Where do you pastor?

I am the pastor of Guilford Baptist Church in Sterling, about a half hour outside of DC in Northern Virginia.  The church is 152 years old, but before I became the pastor the congregation had dwindled to just a couple of saints.  We brought a few people with us from Capitol Hill Baptist Church and began the work of revitalization in 2005.  Guilford’s congregation is now fairly diverse (about 35% of the members are foreign born internationals) and skews young.  We have started two Spanish-speaking churches and hope to start many more.

2) How did you come to Christ?

My family didn’t go to church regularly when I was a young child.  When I was about 10 years old my parents came to Christ and began taking my brother and me to a good, Bible-preaching church.  I heard the gospel in Sunday School and by God’s grace it seemed obviously right to me.  I was converted at some point in that process.

3) Describe your call to ministry.

Given the restraining orders that prevent me from cage-fighting for a living, there weren’t too many options open to me.  I discovered that I couldn’t adequately feed the family as a pharmaceutical clinical trial subject, so I took that as a kind of call to the ministry.  Also, when I was in college I began to feel both an increased love for the church and a strong desire to teach God’s Word to God’s people.  When Capitol Hill Baptist Church invited me to come plant a church from their congregation, I jumped at it.

4) Tell us about your family.

I fell in love with Karen when I was 19 years old and she was 17.  She was the only Christian girl I had ever met who could quote Screeching Weasel songs in the course of normal conversation.  When you find a girl like that, you don’t let her go.  I married her in 1997 and we have four sweet, hilarious, intense, little kids.  Kendall is our only daughter, she’s 7.  Knox is 5, Phineas is almost 4, and Ebenezer is 7 months old.

5) What are some of your favorite activities with your family or personal hobbies?

I love sports.  They haven’t invented a sport that I won’t play and/or watch on TV (full disclosure, I don’t consider soccer a “sport”… anything that encourages men with pony tails to flop dramatically is better categorized as “ballet”).  I love coaching our kids’ Little League teams, playing baseball in our yard, and taking the family to see MLB games.  I don’t particularly enjoy home construction, but I seem to spend a lot of time gutting and rebuilding our dilapidated house, so I guess that counts as a hobby.