Siji Adewunmi

My family and I have been attending Evergreen since late 2017 when we moved here from Kansas. After experiencing the liturgy and hospitality here, we transferred our membership from our PCA church in Kansas shortly after. I’ve been married to Allison for 14 years (15 later this year!) and God has blessed us with three boys: Josiah (10 years old), Ethan (8 years old), and Silas (4 years old). We were also blessed last April when we got our dog, Bella, who is now one-and-a-half years old.

I’m a first generation African-American and was born to Nigerian parents in Kansas. I was raised by a single mother and attended a Baptist church with my three sisters. My mother and father later remarried when I was in college. God’s hand on me in Kansas brought me to bow my knee to Jesus at The University of Kansas and began growing my faith while attending the student ministry group, The Navigators and through the ministry of the word at Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, KS. Here, I began learning more intently about our spiritual heritage as believers. During my college years, I attended two summer training programs with the Navigators and attended two short term mission trips, one in Malawi and another in Honduras. God provided the path for me to complete my undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, which lead me to me to become a cardiology nurse practitioner.

Now, let’s fast-forward several years to Ian Ussery’s ordination ceremony. I heard a minister give a message that included a call to die sacrificially as Christ died for the church. This call to die settled differently in my heart than it ever had before. Sure, it was a familiar message that most of us have heard to take up His cross and follow him. You and I have heard this call to die in the liturgy on the Lord’s Day, in our marriages, in our families as fathers/mothers and in our workplaces. Admittedly, this is a strange way to live as the world sees it, but this is the path of joy set before us by Jesus. As this call to die settled more in my heart, I saw parts of how the Spirit was guiding me to lead more sacrificially like Jesus in areas where I had leadership roles (formerly on the Mercy Team, currently on the Safety Team, leading/hosting our community group). But also, I began desiring a more specific role in church leadership; the elder.

As I have been seeking the office of an elder, I have heard this call to die in a particular way, namely dying to what I want in my roles as a husband, father, employee, neighbor, friend, etc. That is not to say that the requirements or tasks of an elder are more important than these other areas. What I (and most of us men) want in these roles are immensely good, valuable, and biblical. I want to honor God and serve him and others well with love, excellence and diligence in all of these areas. This will be hard, as dying often is, but I am comforted by his faithful presence with me.

My desire to become an elder is driven by wanting to help the members of Jesus’ church at Evergreen 1) see more of Jesus, 2) learn more about themselves past and present, 3) grow in joy in his Kingdom. I’ve enjoyed elder training over the last few of months from Christopher and the Session. As I reflect on God’s work in my life, I see evidence of the Spirit’s equipping to lead at Evergreen through taking care of patients as a nurse practitioner. I also see this equipping work through my marriage, fatherhood, and friendships, especially through the friends I’ve made here at Evergreen. God has also cultivated an appetite for continued learning about Him and myself through godly men and women, authors and other wise individuals.

Ultimately, I have seen my world be transformed because of Jesus’ work in me. I’ve worked through some very difficult things and I could not have done it without the Spirit and without the Church. I want to see others experience the joy and freedom in Christ as I have. I look forward to learning more about you all! I care about you deeply. I’ve enjoyed living life with you over the years and I look forward to continued life with you here at Evergreen. I also look forward to being a part of our Lord’s transforming, sacrificial love in you as an elder at Evergreen, if the God leads the congregation to call me. I am happy to answer questions!