CEP SEASON TWO EP: 28 - WITH GUEST CHAD HAMPTON

Nov 17

By Dave Mckeown and Nathan Benger

The Church Explained podcast is a conversation to help grow your leadership, develop your team and build your church. Your hosts will be Dave Mckeown and Nathan Benger. We talk about all things leadership with key team players from IKON Church and other guests during each show.

Welcome to Season 2, Episode: 28 of the Church Explained Podcast with guest Chad Hampton

A short bio about Chad

Chad has been married to his wife, Jill, for 19 years, and they have four children, Makenna, Ashton, Adalyn and Jude.

Chad grew up a preacher's kid. He attended Bible college in 2002. At the age of 19 stepped into full-time ministry as a youth pastor. He was on staff at Faith Center Church in Rockford, IL, for 12 years before transitioning to the team at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Chad was the campus pastor at the Providence campus for a little over two years and then moved to be the campus pastor at the Lake Norman location for over four years. Chad recently stepped away from full-time vocational ministry and now works as a sales rep for a company in Utah. His focus during this time is to ensure he takes every moment possible to be with his kids, as they are still young and at home.

In part one of our conversation, we explore with Chad his courageous decision to step out of full-time ministry at Elevation and step into a new role in the marketplace and how this impacted him.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

CREATED BY AI - SO NOT 100% accurate.

David Mckeown 0:00

Hey welcome everyone to the church explained podcast, a conversation to grow your leadership and build your Church.

David Mckeown 0:14

Great to have Chad with us today. We're gonna say a little bit more about him in a moment. But welcome to the podcast. My name is Dave.

Chad Hampton 0:21

And my name is Nathan. And as always, we're your hosts at the church explained podcast. And As Dave said, we're joined by Chad Hampton. And I'm gonna just mention a little bit about Chad and he's put in a short bio together for us today. And so Chad has been married to his wife Jill for almost 19 years. They've got four children McKenna, Ashton adilyn. And dude, that I say those right, Charles

Chad Hampton 0:48

said, they're great man. He got an amazing, amazing.

Chad Hampton 0:51

Chad grew up as a preacher's kid. He's a PK. And come on, come on come on Piquet's. And at the age of 19 oil you intended Bible college and then at the age of 19 went into full time ministry as a youth Pastor is on staff at a Church called Faith centred Church in Rockford, Illinois for 12 years before transitioning to staff at Elevation Church in Charlotte. Chad was the campus Pastor at the Providence campus for a little over two years and then moved to be the campus Pastor at the Lake Norman that location for over four years. Chad recently stepped away from full time vocational ministry and took a job as a sales rep for a company in Utah. And he's focused during this time is to make sure he takes in every moment possible while his kids are still young and home. So Chad, it's so good to have you with us on the church explained podcast. Great to

Chad Hampton 1:41

be here with the guys honoured to be a part of this.

David Mckeown 1:44

Fantastic Yeah, we love having different guests on on different stories. So be great just to find a little bit about your story today child as well. We obviously we've got your bio there. That's the stuff that's more official, but we want to find out a little bit more about you as well. So tell us a little bit about your faith story. And you're joining the ministry back rind. We've heard a little bit about your family. What if anything else you want to share with your family, you can do that. But also what do you do for fun?

Chad Hampton 2:11

For fun? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Nathan kind of summed it up there in the bio that I gave you guys, which I hate, right? And bios, I always sit there for like five minutes like okay, what do I say about myself? It always comes down to hey, I'm a I'm a husband, I'm a father. And yeah, I was blessed to, you know, work for a couple of amazing churches, you know, for almost 20 years of my life. And grew up in Church. I was I was in Church every time the doors were open, and every time the doors weren't open. You know, it was just our Church was kind of a family or deal. My grandpa was the lead Pastor of the Church I grew up in my dad was the executive Pastor. So yeah, just Church was all I knew. And really about the age of 16 was when I felt God pulling me in the direction of maybe I want to be a Pastor and go into full time. vocational ministry, I had a youth Pastor in my life that just showed me what ministry could be. I always thought Church was just hey, something you do on Sundays, Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday, and realise that, wow, to live this life and get to encourage people and, you know, empower people, Pastor and care for people. That's, that's pretty significant. That's pretty fulfilling. And so, yeah, at the age of 16, really felt called to go in that direction. Like you said, went to college. So when I came back, I went to I went to college, when I came back from college, I, I left as a youth at the Church I grew up in and now I'm coming back as the youth Pastor at the Church I grew up in, and so a lot of my friends now I'm their youth Pastor, and that was a, that was a bit of a challenge, you know, for sure, but six years in youth ministry. And yeah, like I said, my grandpa was the lead Pastor. So it's just all I knew, when we moved, you know, to Charlotte, from from Illinois, it was it was definitely an uncertain, you know, step because at the time coming to elevation, they didn't just hire people on they had an apprenticeship programme. So we were moving across the country, you know, with four kids have no guarantees of a job. It was just like, hey, let's give this a try. It was pretty much a six month interview. And so people thought, you know, are you crazy, you're, you're moving everything that you've known, you know, to, to pursue a maybe, and said, You know, I'm gonna call it faith. Maybe it's crazy. I think you got to have a little bit of both, you know, when you're when you're following God, and, you know, obviously it worked out. Yeah. And coming on staff. So, churches, churches, what we've known and so to step out of, to step out of that, you know, after almost 20 years, it felt like a death you know, when we stepped away from fault administrate just to go into a corporate job. But, you know, during during the lockdown we all experienced, you know the pandemic in different ways, I think it would be silly to say that we all went through it the same way, we all we gain different perspectives. I have a friend who called it Coach COVID. He's a he's a public speaker. And he's like Coach COVID Put me on the bench, because obviously, all of his speaking engagements got cancelled. But it gave him a different perspective. And for me, you know, I thought I was gonna go crazy. Being at home all the time. I'm a people person, I like being out. I like engaging with people. And so the thought of just being home 24/7 was daunting to me. But actually, it had, it had a different impact. And I realised I really liked this. I like being home, I like being more available, you know, with what my kids have going on. And that's what really began to create, you know, the, the possibility in the conversation of of a transition from, would we really consider stepping away from full time ministry, just just take a remote job where I work at home. And you know, that was not something that we decided overnight. It wasn't an emotional decision, it wasn't a reactive decision, there was a lot of prayer and conversation that had to go into that. And so, you know, now here we are a little over a year, just working corporate, working remote, and God has been faithful in it. He's been very faithful. And I'm very thankful. And I'd say if, you know, if there's one posture I've really tried to maintain in this time, it's just a posture of praise and thanksgiving, you know, just for the seeing how God has has has been with us in this time. So I guess I would hope, you know, through this podcast that we're having this conversation. I'm sure there's there's people that maybe they're in full time ministry, and and maybe they're, they feel a little stuck because they feel a poll or a call maybe towards something that's not full time ministry. And you know, I know we're going to talk about it more, but maybe that this would encourage someone today that just feels a little stuck right now.

David Mckeown 7:10

Yeah, as you say, Chad, we're gonna pick that up. And Nathan's got a great question for you in a moment on that. So we don't want to miss the bit in there. What do you do for fun? Because because you haven't answered.

Chad Hampton 7:20

Oh, that's right. Yeah. I got so serious. I got some serious. I mean, really, right now what I do for fun is is I am completely wrapped up in my kids lives. Just everything that they have going on. My my two boys are really involved with sports. We got football season coming up, not soccer, football season coming up. And so, you know, they're, they're getting ready for that they're really excited. My daughter, my youngest daughter, she just started a little business, her and her friend. So you know, just supporting her in that. My oldest daughter, she's about to be a senior in high school. So she's working, she's driving so I'm just trying to, you know, make the most of this last year that she's in the house. So I love dating my wife. we prioritise you know going on date nights, I'm a big shoe guy. I love sneakers. I play the drums. I love playing the drums and just love being active. You know, I love sports. We just had a rec centre open up by us so you know trying to get over there with the boys I put a home gym at our at our house. I love working out. So try to stay active. You know, try to try to still live life but yeah, really fun is just whatever my kids got going on. However I can be there and support them and just be their biggest fan. That's that's a lot of fun right now.

Chad Hampton 8:43

Amazing. Amazing. And you were you mentioned there that you're into shoes sneakers? what's your what's your favourite at the moment? What would you what would your go to be?

Chad Hampton 8:55

My go to would be I have the Jordan one quart purples. And I'm not typically a purple fan, but just the combination the way that these colours work together. That's probably my favourite shoe right now. Jordan one quart purple.

Chad Hampton 9:14

Amazing. He's no yeah, like, like my shoes. Not got as many as I'd want, but

Chad Hampton 9:21

never know. There's always more to get.

Chad Hampton 9:25

So you mentioned that go gone?

David Mckeown 9:27

No, I was just gonna say it sounds like a sounds like an event with some ladies talking about shoes today. Not only these talk about shoes, but that's how it's coming across. So as it is, go for it.

Chad Hampton 9:42

Dave Dave, you need to get into the sneaker game may need to get into the sneaker game. Now you mentioned there Chad around going from full time Miss ministry into a corporate setting. You mentioned some of the motivation for that in that but I wonder if you they allude to that maybe some of the mind Set mind shifts that you've had to make on that as well, like, what shifts? The challenges with that? You know, I'd love to hear your perspective as well, in terms of obviously, you've grown up in Church. And did that present challenges as well? And also what have been the new opportunities that have come with that faith step?

Chad Hampton 10:19

Yeah, absolutely. That's a loaded question for sure. Yeah, growing up in ministry, I mean, it's all we knew. So the consideration of stepping out of stepping out of working for a Church to just take on a corporate job, I guess there was a concern for me because it was like, and my wife, because we're going, Are we are we stepping out of our calling? You know, that that word calling, I feel like it's been abused so much, over the years, especially within maybe a Church context, because I've talked to so many people that they work corporate, and they feel like the only way I can fulfil my calling is I have to work for Church. I remember talking with an individual. This was right when I got to the Lake Norman campus. And he was just burdened, he was conflicted, because he's like, I own this business. It was a very successful business. Because I but I feel God, you know, pulling me towards helping people and ministering to people. And I feel like I need to apply, you know, for the Church. And I told them, I said, Man, you've got a great ministry, right where you are, when it comes to your business, you're interacting with people, all the time, I even told him, I said, I'm a little envious of you. Because you're just every day, you've got people coming into your business, and you're just having, you know, conversations, and you never know how God will use that business as a ministry to open a door to, to encourage somebody to minister to somebody. So I just challenged him right there. I said, you don't, you don't need to work for a Church. To fulfil your calling, you're living in that calling right now. And God's using your business as a way to fulfil that. So just keep being available, keep being open, keep being present, you know, keep listening to the people when they're coming in listening for signs of signals, where maybe it's a cry for help, and you can step in there. And so, you know, I think a lot of people get it backwards, like I have to work for Church to fulfil my calling. But I think of the parable of the talents where it says the master call to his servants, they were called in that moment, you know, to multiply what he had given them. And we were so afraid to step away from from full time ministry thinking that we would forfeit our calling. And yet I realised I'm, I'm looking over the people that God has placed right in front of me. Because I think somewhere out there is my calling. And yet right in front of me, my four kids, I believe that in this in this time, this really is who God is calling me to steward Well, and, you know, and multiply this time, you know, in reality, we've got eight years left. Before we're empty nesters, that's crazy to think about, because we moved from Illinois to North Carolina eight years ago. And so, you know, that fear, I guess, fear of God, to step away from what, you know, we had done for so long. That's something that we really had to pray about. But when we felt like, you know, we were released, and God had said, hey, no matter what you do, as long as your heart is bent towards honouring me, and pleasing me, I'm gonna bless it. And there's nothing wrong with saying in this time that my calling is to just be a very present Father, to be a, you know, an even more devoted husband. There's nothing wrong with that. And so that was really the mindset shift that we had to just had to take time. You know, transition to me transition is just all about a rhythm. And you've been used to living in one rhythm for so long. And then all of a sudden, the rhythm changes. And it takes a little bit, you know, to pick up that new rhythm. And so we knew this is going to be a new rhythm. And like I said, earlier, I'm a drummer. So I feel like I can pick up on new rhythms pretty quickly. But when it comes to the rhythm of life, you know, just stepping into that, that new time of corporate and being home more, when we knew that God was in it. I mean, I was excited about it. It went from kind of fear, and wonder and uncertainty to men, God's in this and so let's, let's go after this. Let's, let's embrace it. So, yeah, I think just the fear of stepping away from calling but then realising, you know, we shouldn't define that by just by one entity. So

Chad Hampton 14:42

you, you mentioned a phrase there at the end chat. I wonder if you could allude to this maybe might be helpful for some listeners who said, you knew that God was in it. Like how did you know?

Chad Hampton 14:56

Yeah, I know that's a that's definitely a it's A statement I think a lot of people wish they could say, you know, when it comes to where they're at, I don't, I don't think we fully know, honestly. Because, you know, what's the opposite of faith, the opposite of faith is certainty. And so it wasn't so much stepping into certainty. But it was just knowing that, hey, when it comes to my family, I mean, when it comes to my wife and my four kids, I don't think anyone can argue that God would be in a decision to say, I just, I want to be much more present and devoted, you know, to being there for my kids, you know, in this time, this the short time that I have left, so I guess I knew my heart was right. I was stepping away from a title, a position that was, was a badge of honour, you know, to say you work at Elevation Church, a very, very, you know, influential Church around the world, to get to be one of the campus pastors. And the town that we're in is a very affluent town, you know, the campus at the time was was over 2500 people on a weekend. So you're around town, people know you people see you, that felt good. So it's not like I was chasing something that was more appealing or more attractive. It was like, in some sense, maybe to some people, it was like a demotion, you know, you're stepping away from this opportunity. You're stepping away from this position, you're stepping away from this title. Yeah, because I guess, I guess I'm just more trying to cherish, you know, who God has given me right now, rather than chasing whatever is out there. And so just knowing that our hearts were pure, I didn't need everyone else to understand it. And I think that's where a lot of people, they get stuck, you know, they get stuck in that tension, because they're, they're hoping everyone will understand the decision that they've made. And, and my wife and I, we had to come to just the reality that not everyone will understand it. And we'll probably lose some friends, you know, in this process, we're going to lose influence. But what we can gain in this time of just creating memories, Dave and I were talking about just, you know, vacation before we jumped on here, the memories, you know, that that gets to be created in the unknown in the adventures? You know, we just knew that our hearts are right, because this has nothing to do with something that's going to prop us up to make people go like, Ooh, look at them. No, we're about to lay low. We're about to go behind the scenes, I'm about to step off the stage and put the microphone down. Because I just, I just want to be dad right now. And I'm okay with that. And so I felt like it was it was a pure decision, you know, it was the right motive. And so that's why I say I knew God was in it, because it had nothing to do with positioning ourselves for, for some new, you know, level of clout or status. Right.

David Mckeown 17:57

Right. Yeah, that's a great answer there. And you've touched on a couple of things there, I wonder if we could just explore a little bit. Because, because I think when it comes to your decision, obviously, that was a courageous decision. As you said, up until that point, your background was Church, you were connected, and that was your identity. So there's something about having courage to step out to be obedient to what God wants us to do. And I think it's not about stepping out from but stepping into your well being as people who are listening, and maybe they feel stuck in a role. Or maybe it's about them, being obedient to God, and stepping into something rather than actually feeling it's a backward step or something like that. So the other thing that got really struck me there was around this idea of calling because when we look across the Church, I mean, if you're not a, you know, a paid member of staff or positional role like that, I mean, 99% of the people you're ministering to are in that role 90. So there's got to be something in there with those people feel as called as those who are standing at the front. And maybe that's the mind shift that we need the harvest. Actually, the calling is not just about those who are in full time ministry, but callings about actually being obedient to what God sent to you as the individual. We want to explore that a little bit Nathan, what do you think on that or chart? I think there's something in there.

Chad Hampton 19:31

Yeah, go ahead. Nathan. You're about to say something? Yeah, I

Chad Hampton 19:33

was just like, I'm, I'm intrigued because I think the whole idea of calling and Church I think in you know, like, like yourself growing up in Church, very much of that call in has been towards ministry, but trying to shift that in the Church, and I'm really intrigued of how we do that well in the Church, you know, how we, how we, how we let the teachers know in our Church that they're called, you know, how we let you know, everyone And even, you know, down to people who clear bins, cleaners, whatever it is, however, whatever job they look like, how do we let them know that they are called as well, I think is a great journey for churches to go on. But it has to be modelled in ours as well.

Chad Hampton 20:17

Yeah. When you break it down like that, Nathan, I mean, Dave, you said the word courage earlier, it's so interesting that you say that I was listening to, to a teaching right before we got on here, actually. And the teaching was about courage. And there's a bit of a backstory there, too. I don't have a lot of time to go into it. But when I was on staff at elevation, I was in a fun way. I was I was known as courageous chat, because I was in a meeting one time and Pastor Steven asked the campus pastors, what does it take, you know, to just be a good campus Pastor at elevation. And some people said, charisma, some said communication. I said, courage. And he, he actually challenged me on that, because that's just what he does. He just likes to push back and challenge get you to think, and I wouldn't let up. I said, No, it takes courage. And so for a while, you know, in meetings, it would just, it would get brought up, and it was fun. Well, it was a couple of years after that, that he was actually preaching a sermon. And he brought that story up, about how just I was convinced that, you know, courage was the virtue that you needed. And he said, That was right. It takes courage. It takes courage, you know, to, to be in leadership to follow the plan of God for your life to trust, you know, him and whatever step He's calling you to take in our hearts, we plan our course the Lord determines our steps, takes courage. But we love that virtue, courage, but I really believe it kind of goes in reverse where we're courage is really developed through the virtue of integrity. And integrity is developed through the virtue of humility. And, you know, if we want people to really live out their calling, as leaders, we've got to be humble enough to, to point that out, to bring that out of the people that God is calling us to lead with even the possibility that, hey, you know what, their gift could be pretty significant. And their gift might even cause them to get more notoriety than me. I mean, classic example, David in salt right. Now, we all know where that went. But I think I think leaders as leaders, we've got to be willing enough to say I see something in you. And I'm willing to develop that I'm willing to empower you and equip you, even at the expense of maybe maybe your platform at this time, we'll grow a little larger than mine, I'm okay with that. Because aren't we all call to do one thing anyways, and that's build God's Church advance his kingdom, become more and more like Christ, you know, every day. And I think there's, there's some humility, you know, as leaders that we need to be willing to step into, to say my job is to see something in you and to, and to cultivate that and develop that. That's going to take a lot of trust, you know, from from our part, as leaders, but I think it starts with humility. I really do we love we love the thought of being strong and courageous. You know, as as God was commanding Joshua, but why was God commanding Joshua to be strong and courageous, because ultimately, Joshua was afraid, you know, he was he was fearful. And so So God really had to, you know, call, call out of him, what he knew was in him. And so I think it starts with us, as leaders, we've got to be humble enough that maybe maybe in a season, maybe in a certain phase of life, it won't always be about us. That's okay. Because I get to, I get to enjoy, you know, from maybe the front row, cheering this person on, I had a leader in my life that was just intimidating to me. And when they would show up at my campus, I knew why they were there, to evaluate me to critique me. And so every word I was saying, from stage, I knew that I was just, I was being investigated. So I would just become a nervous wreck. And so I sat with this leader one time, I said, you know, I appreciate you in my life so much, I know that you're, you're just here to help. And you're here to challenge the process. I said, But, but when I'm in your presence in a live setting, um, I can't think I just I fall apart, you know, in my head, so I just need you to fake it. You know, while you're with me, just say an amen or clap or something, just to know that you believe in me, you know, for for that time that you're there and then maybe when we meet afterwards, we can, we can have the conversation of feedback and evaluation. And they looked at me and they just said, I, I'm so sorry. I think they said, I've always seen myself as a coach, you know, coaching you guys, I think, I think God's calling me to be more of a cheerleader, you know, in this time just to cheer you on to give you the comp And so the next time this leader came while I was preaching to the campus, they come to the campus, they sit in the front row, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, here we go, this is going to be a miserable 35 minutes because every word I say is going to be critiqued. And they showed up. And they did the opposite. They, they clapped, they Amen, they were, they were in my corner. And it just, it set me up, you know, in a different way to just men. I believe I can do this, because I'm being believed in by my leader. And then later on, we have the conversation of feedback. But I think I think leaders just they have to humble themselves enough to not always, you know, just be the smartest one in the room, you know, and say, Hey, I believe in you. And I'm going to champion what what I know God has put in you. And that takes humility. So

Chad Hampton 25:49

Chad, what is the best way for people to connect with you?

Chad Hampton 25:53

You can go I'm on Instagram. So I am Chad Hampton, is my handle, you can go on there. Probably the best way.

Chad Hampton 26:01

Awesome. Well, it's been great to have Chad with us and great to have everyone listening and if you're watching this as well, great to have you with us, wherever you're consuming the content. And please like subscribe, share it with someone you know, it would encourage and really believing that this has been a super helpful conversation with you. Don't forget we've got IKON dot Church forward slash open where you can get exclusive access to loads of free content around Church leadership and free content for your Church as well. And I know we've recently put some new resources on kids ministry so head over there to check those out. But we will we look forward to having everyone with us next time on the church explained podcast. We will see you soon.

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