Hello there! My name is Jacob Orr; it’s great to see you! Welcome! Here on my site you’ll have the opportunity to dive into all things KIDMIN and PARENTING related. It is my goal you are challenged while simultaneously find encouragement and helpful parenting tips.
A little about me first.
I grew up in a Christian home which I’m so thankful to have been a part of. I came to faith in Jesus at a young age, when I was just in the 2nd grade. I remember that Wednesday night vividly as I sat down with my senior pastor, Dr. Welch, in his office as he explained the Gospel to me and I realized the weight of my sin and the weight of what Jesus had done for me and he led me in the SInner’s Prayer. I had been asking about being baptized after seeing my older brothers baptized and was so excited to get to walk the aisle in front of the whole church. My baptism was very special to me as well. As I came up out of the water, Dr. Welch commissioned me to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. He placed some salt onto my wet lips and placed a lit candle in my hands and sent me out of the pool. I never knew how special and poignant that moment would be to me as the years passed on.
Becoming a believer at a young age is one of the reasons I’m so passionate now about children’s ministry. I want to instill in the next generation that same foundation that was given to me. Being raised in a Christian household, hearing those Bible stories during devotions after dinner around the table, and watching my parents’ faith play out in real and tangible ways, had a huge impact on me.
I’ve been in ministry for over 20 years now, beginning at the young age of 15 serving at a children’s summer camp. Those summers were so formative to me as I learned the value of a daily quiet time with God, brothers and sisters in Christ who would hold me accountable, and the importance of sharing your faith. Sharing the plan of salvation with young kids became normal for me during those summer months and praying with some of them as they turned to Jesus as Savior and Lord was an incredible experience.
Through college I continued in ministry travelling all over the southeast on a drama ministry team, encouraging and exhorting the church through the arts. Ministry was becoming like second nature to me and some of my best memories were wrapped up with serving and doing ministry.
College was where my wife, Sarah, and I met and we both knew that we would be involved in ministry in some capacity and even prayed about going on the mission field once we graduated. Ultimately, we moved back to my hometown where I became the Associate Pastor of our local church, overseeing both youth and children’s ministries there. After serving for five years bi-vocationally, we felt the call to be closer to her family. Her mother being a widow and her sister still in high school, it was time to minister to our own family for a season. But we had to sell our house, we had to find new jobs, we had to leave our church community. These were obstacles that stood in our way. We fasted and prayed about this move until the Lord made it clear that this was a time to step out in faith.
Without selling our house in SC, without any job prospects and without any support system other than Sarah’s mother, we left the stability of our life in SC and moved to Raleigh-Durham, NC trusting God to provide for all of our needs. Within weeks of moving, Sarah and I were both working, we had renters in our South Carolina home and we had a new church community within 3 days of moving! God had answered all of our prayers!
At The Summit Church, I really lasered in on my calling to kids ministry. I began serving in the children’s ministry there and was taken under wing by the our Kids Pastor. What had just naturally fallen into my lap before as a ministry now had a purpose and a vision behind it! I entered into their Pastoral Apprenticeship training which was a combination of classroom training by church leaders, and hands on ministry experience. Under their leadership, I launched a new Awana location and led Saturday night children’s ministries at our church. Here was where I fully developed my love for children’s ministry and found my life’s calling to be clear and defined. My own family was growing and my influence on the next generation was growing as well. God was blessing us in big ways!
What was supposed to be a two year program turned into a full time position at our broadcast location. I spent another 3 years there dedicating myself to the next generation. What I loved most about my time there was using my love for the arts and creating dramas to use at VBS as well as teaching Gospel and Baptism classes with individual families.
Since departing from Summit, I’ve had the opportunity to serve in other churches, including in Central Florida and Fayetteville, NC, where we currently reside. I love teaching kids but I know that the best teacher for them is their parents, so I want to be a resource to them, equipping them to make an eternal impact on the next generation.
So that’s me. Here we go – let’s take this journey together. Thanks for visiting and we’ll see you again soon!
Jacob Orr 
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