My name is Stephen Shytle and I’m proud to be the pastor here at Morehead UMC. This is my fourth appointment in the WNCC of the UMC since graduating from Duke Divinity School in 2011. Since then, I’ve become an Ordained Elder in Full Connection in the UMC. Before answering the call to vocational ministry, I was in sales for an oil distributor right here in North Carolina where I was born and raised. While living in my hometown of Gastonia, I earned my BA in Sociology from UNC Charlotte. Although I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian Denomination, my life as a devoted Christian began much later in a United Methodist Church where I fell in love with Jesus and Stephanie. Stephanie and I have been married now since 2009… and there has never been a dull moment with our two sons, William and Andrew. God is certainly taking us on an adventure! Among everything else, I want you to know how grateful I am for the doctrine of the United Methodist Church and our particular emphasis on God’s amazing grace. The United Methodist Church gave me language to more clearly understand the life and relationship that I’ve experienced (and continue to experience with God)… how God has been there for me before I ever knew or appreciated it… how God made Himself known to me and drew me into a relationship with Him… how God continues saving from the person I used to be… and how He continues changing me to be more than I could have ever been on my own.
