Meet Donald
Growing up, we went to a pretty traditional church. We got dressed up, went to church, and did what I thought Christians were supposed to do. But around 11 or 12 years old, I started noticing something.
From the little I knew about Christianity, I knew Christians were supposed to love their neighbors and treat people with kindness and respect. But sometimes, what I saw outside of church didn’t match what I heard inside of church. I would watch people leave a church service and then go to a restaurant and treat the waitstaff terribly. I saw people who claimed to follow Jesus judge others because of how they looked or the choices they made.
I was never personally hurt by a church. I just couldn’t understand the disconnect. If this is what being a Christian looks like, why would I want to be one? By the time I was 15 or 16, I had made up my mind.I would just be a good person. I didn’t need the label “Christian.” I figured if I treated people well and tried to do the right thing, God would see that. Surely being a good person was enough.
Then I met my wife. She had grown up in church and eventually told me she wanted to get back into her faith. Around that same time, we heard about a new church called Canvas so we decided to give it a shot. Almost immediately, Canvas felt different. There wasn’t a building. There wasn’t a dress code. Nobody expected me to pretend I had everything figured out. The invitation was simple: Come as you are and discover Jesus.
So I started asking questions. Instead of giving me generic answers, Kevin encouraged me to actually read the Bible for myself. When I had questions, he didn’t pretend they weren’t difficult. Sometimes he would simply say, “That’s a good question. Let me look into it and get back to you.” For the first time, I felt like I was being given permission to own my faith instead of simply being told what to believe.
Then I started reading the Gospel of John and I discovered something I didn’t expect--Jesus had a problem with religious hypocrisy too.
I saw how Jesus confronted people who claimed to know God but treated others as if they were beneath them. I began to realize that the things that had bothered me about Christianity growing up weren’t reasons to reject Jesus.
They were the very things Jesus confronted.
Following Jesus wasn’t about believing I was better than everyone else. Having a relationship with Jesus should change the way I love and serve the people around me. And slowly, my perspective began to change.
Not long after coming to Canvas, I decided to be baptized. That was about four years ago. Today, I’m still learning, asking questions, and owning my growth. But now I’m also helping other people discover the same Jesus I almost walked away from without ever really knowing.
I serve at Canvas with video, photography, and sometimes with the sound team. As a kid who wanted nothing to do with the label “Christian,” I never imagined church would become such an important part of my life.
I’m thankful Canvas gave me somewhere to question, somewhere to grow, and somewhere to belong. Because Canvas didn’t just give me a different picture of church. It helped me discover Jesus for myself.
Today, Donald serves behind the scenes at Canvas running AV on Sunday mornings, as well as capturing photos and videos for all of our events. If you have ever seen a video recap from a Trunk or Treat or Easter Egg Hunt, it is for sure Donald's work. When he is not sharing his talents with us, catch him hanging out with family, gaming or master his hobby of photo and video editing!
