KPA

My name is Cecelia, and I am a Minnesota native, having grown up in Shoreview, MN, before moving to Minneapolis. I graduated from the University of Minnesota in spring 2015 with a degree in mechanical engineering. I am currently working as an engineer at Ecolab. Hope Community Church has been my home since 2011, and it is there that God has grown me up in him, showing me what the world looks like in the light of the gospel. Little by little, he has been teaching me the value of gospel community and of doing life together as the body of Christ. Needless to say, I am passionate about community and seek to cultivate genuine connections with and between others. We weren’t made to do life alone.

 

*  What do you love about living in community (and maybe challenges too)?

 

I love so many things about living in community, not the least of which are the good, nurturing friendships that form and the ways in which we learn to care for and serve one another. The solidarity we find in living a life of worship together has also been incredibly fortifying for my faith. However, what I really value about community is how hard it can be. Only in community can one be refined and sharpened with an intensity not otherwise obtainable. I have heard it said that one does not truly belong to a given community until one has been hurt or disappointed by it, and then chosen to stick with it and love it anyway. A wise friend of mine once dubbed the process “brute force sanctification.” Even though it is often unpleasant, it is a process I have chosen to embrace with fondness as I strive to become more like Christ. After all, we stand under the same unifying banner of Christ, and in him, we can do all things.

 

*  What is your vision/ dream for KPA?

My vision for KPA is that we would be a united body of Christ followers where all are loved, accepted, encouraged, and challenged inside the community and empowered to go out and bless the world according to the calling of each outside the community.

 

*  A humorous fact about me:

I frequently speak using Kristin Wiig quotes.