Pastor Brad--Pastor of Connections

Where did you grow up?
Anderson, IN -- Yup, I'm a Hoosier living in the
Keystone State. You can take the boy out of
Indiana-but you'll never take the Indiana out
of the boy :- )

How did you become a
Christian?
Man, that's quite a story really. If you want to read
the FULL STORY-you can read my testimony HERE.
Here's the short version---When I was 20 years old-
after a long time of running from Jesus-I finally
came to the end of my rope in 1987 and surrendered
to Christ. It was in the really cool town of Wichita,
KS. I had some family out there who were very
involved in ministry and God used them to lead me
back to Him.

Tell us about your family
(immediate family, wife...
how long married, kids, etc.).
I am married to the most awesome woman in the world! Kelly and I were married June 22, 1991 in Anderson, IN. Kelly had just graduated from Anderson University. Together we have two fantastic kids-Kara was born in Roaring Spring, PA (8/3/97) and Josh was born in Ashland, KY (5/20/99). We all have very expressive personalities - so life in the Windlan home is never boring :- ) As a matter of fact-I'd have to say that life in the Windlan home is pretty dog-gone great!

How did you get into the ministry? And how did you end up at First Church?
Like I mentioned above, I surrendered my life to Christ in 1987. I was a pretty intense conversion experience… and not long after that, in 1989 I started to school at Anderson University. My major was Christian Ed. I attended AU for three years. It was during my time at AU that God called me into the ministry… I'll never forget it-it was Thanksgiving Sunday at New Hope Christian Church. I was overwhelmed by a passage I read that morning…

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."
Ephesians 1:7-8

It's kind of hard to put into words-I was absolutely overwhelmed by the fact that God-with all wisdom-knowing full-well what dirtballs we all are/can be-LAVISHED His grace on us-held nothing back… but LAVISHED it on us in love. I went forward… bawled… and just said-"God's been working in and on my heart for a long time-and this morning I just come surrendering to His call for me to give my life, full-time to serving His Church as a pastor." It was a pretty powerful moment for me.

Anyway… in the three years that I was at AU I actually completed my Christian Ed major-before I felt led to transfer to Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, TN. Long story-short-I ended up having to go to JBC for 3 more years (I rarely do anything the easy way) to complete my bachelor degree-majoring in Bible and Preaching.

During my 2nd to last year at JBC-I saw an ad the First Church placed in a Student Newsletter regarding a summer youth ministry internship @ First Church. Well, Kelly was from Carlisle, PA, so I thought, "Hey-this would be great!" Thus began my relationship with John, and the great people @ First Church. I served here as the Pastor of Youth and Singles from 95-98, then God called me to preach. I served two congregations in Kentucky, and then Indiana before I was called to come to First Church in 07 to serve in my current roll.

What's your greatest desire for your ministry here at First Church?
I want to love and teach and disciple everyone I can - toward a deeper walk with Jesus. And my overarching passion is to help EVERYONE possible get connected in a Small Group-because I know that it's in small groups that people really learn how to love and be loved… how to open up and share their hearts and how to really listen to others… it's in groups that people make real friends and "experience" what doing life together as Christ-followers is about… it's awesome!

Anything else you'd like to share?
Yeah, I'm just blessed to be part of the staff here at First Church. John is a great Lead Pastor. I'm honored to be assisting him, and all the staff, in the pursuit of a great vision-to help everyone in Altoona know that they MATTER TO GOD, and help them FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS!