Surrounded by collegues, family and mentors, Ryan Kilgore was ordained for ministry in the Seventh-day Adventish Church on Oct. 4 in Brewster, Wash., during a ceremony that highlighted God's patient calling.
"I am humbled and honored to be here today," said Kilgore. "In fact, I'm a little bit surprised to be here right now ... . In the last 12 or 13 years God has brought me over and over to places that I did not expect to find myself, and He has revealed to me things that I was not looking for."
Kilgore was born in Bismark, N.D., and grew up in a Christian home on the campus of Auburn Adventist Academy in Washington. After dropping out of college, he began working in the computer industry in Seattle. His life at the time had little room for God. God, however, had plans for Kilgore.
As Kilgore recounted his journey during the service, he said, "Something inside tugged at me and urged me to go to church. I didn't know even then that I was looking for God. I can't come up with any satisfying answer for why it was that Jenn and I sheepishly snuck into the back of an Adventist church in Seattle for the first time on one cold Sabbath morning."
Kilgore and his girlfriend, Jennifer, experienced a dramatic conversion in 2003. Kilgore and Jennifer were married later that same year. At that time, Kilgore began to sense a call not only to serve God but to do so through ministry.
"This is what God does," Kilgore said. "He surprises us. Sometimes He is quiet when we think He should be speaking. Sometimes He makes His presence known when we don't want Him around."
In 2004, Kilgore and Jennifer quit their jobs in Seattle and moved to College Place, Wash., where Kilgore completed his bachelor's degree in theology at Walla Walla University. He began serving as an associate pastor in 2007 under the leadership of Ole Olesen in the Milton/Blue Mountain Valley district in northeastern Oregon. After graduation, the couple moved to Berrien Springs, Mich., so Kilgore could complete his Master of Divinity at Andrews University. Today they and their two sons are serving in Brewster and Chelan, Wash.
At the close of his comments during the ordination service, Kilgore said, "I choose to hold on to the instruction of God and to follow whatever surprising call He may make in my life until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul Hoover, Upper Columbia Conference president, presents Ryan Kilgore's ministry credentials.
Ryan and Jennifer Kilgore celebrate the special day with their extended family.
