About

A little about me. My name is Wade. I am a husband and a father. I have had a wide array of experiences throughout my life that have led me to this point! I'll give a snippet now, but I'm sure it will come up later too :)

Established in 1992, my upbringing was pretty good. My parents were, and are still, married. I have two brothers that are about 10 years older than me and have their own experiences they may share with us some day. I watched my brothers and studied the way they did things in order to improve and not make the same mistakes they did. Long story short, this landed me in the shackles of a substance abuse addiction that started when I was 11 years old and continued until I was 24. 

In 2016, I was arrested for DWI (driving while intoxicated) and had a blood alcohol content of .34 two hours after driving. I should have been dead. At that point, I surrendered. I knew there was something more and I wanted whatever that more was. I enrolled in Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, a 12 month long inpatient recovery program. When I graduated from the 12 month program, I elected to start in the program's ministry education program (TCLI). 6 months later, I was working with the same organization, especially focused on supporting the adolescents and teens. 

I was working on finishing my associate's degree and looking forward at what God wanted from me next in life. When I graduated my associate's program, I enrolled at a Christian college, Crown College, in Minnesota. I completed my Bachelor's degree with a dual major program - Christian Ministry and Biblical Studies, and continued working forward on an accelerated path to a Master of Divinity degree. 

In this process, I began serving as an associate pastor at a small church in the Minneapolis area that focused on bringing the Gospel message to the homeless and addicted community. I adapted, refined and launched a weekly recovery group that now operates in several locations that reach a congregation size of over 2,000 people per week and continues thru today without my input. This was intentional as a good leader is not worried about being replaced, but they are focused on growing MORE leaders!

After spending a few months serving as a chaplain intern at a local hospital and experiencing the depth of one on one ministry in a chaplain's capacity, I learned a TON about myself and how to work with others. I took these lessons to the workplace where I am a quality manager for a small metal fabrication shop. I have worked in the manufacturing sector in a quality capacity now for over 6 years and I have found many ways that the worlds of blueprints and belief collide. 

If you ever have any questions, please do ask, I'm an open book. As we embark on this journey together, I will sprinkle lessons I've learned in my own experiences to help demonstrate what shapes my understanding apart from my formal academic education and hands on experience in the manufacturing world. 

Without further adeiu, let's get to this!

Steps Forward,

Rev. Wade Forpahl, MDiv.