Mount Alum Jimmy Maupin '07 shares his journey from communications to ministry, as well as the spiritual discourse he had and continues to have with God.
Jimmy Maupin led me to the baptism pool, which I was grateful for because I did not quite know where to go. And yet, I experienced a particular magnetism toward it that encouraged me to do what I knew was right. And so I did.
Likewise, in his junior year of high school, Jimmy experienced a pull to something—a gravity that oriented him in a particular direction. Only, he couldn’t tell which. Unfortunately, as is eventually understood by all, the calls of destiny aren’t always as clear as compasses.
When Maupin finally graduated high school, he did so with a class size of about 60 peers. So the Mount became one of his top choices for higher education because of its student-to-professor ratios and small class sizes. This smallness, Jimmy quickly realized, bred closeness, and enabled him to acclimate much faster and more effectively.
“Also,” he notes, “the Mount is very much a community where you can be known by your professors and advisers and not just by a student ID number.”
Maupin, with the hopes of becoming a teacher, began his college career as a history major. Though it wasn’t long before he sensed that this path wasn’t his and that he was meant to do something more. But this new path did not initially become apparent to him. His desire to teach and connect with others, on the other hand, did not wane.
It was through this feeling of knowing what he was supposed to do, but not yet how to do it, that he decided to change his major and graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies with a minor in history. It wasn’t until a few years later, however, that Maupin gained full awareness that it was God who was directing him somewhere—and that it was toward ministry.
“I am grateful that even when I wasn’t sure where I was meant to be, the Mount played a pivotal role in shaping me and preparing me for ministry,” Maupin recounts.
After attaining his undergraduate degree in 2007, and entering ministry for the first time, he soon decided to enroll at Cincinnati Christian University to earn a Master’s in Religion with a focus on Pastoral Leadership, which he completed successfully.
Beginning his work as an official pastor, Maupin started delving into the ins and outs of a profound kind of social work. But this direction he was subtly ushered into by a larger force, he soon understood, was certainly not new. It was that gravity he had experienced so many years before.
“In retrospect,” he says, “I was called into ministry during my junior year of high school. I just didn’t listen! I knew I wanted to teach, communicate, and influence, but spent a good portion of young adulthood brushing off God’s call to me. Fortunately, God is very good at making his will known and bringing people into my life to help me realize it.”
It was around this time that Maupin moved closer to his hometown and returned to his home church in Felicity, Ohio—this time, as a leader. He befriended the youth minister there and, before he knew it, was eventually asked to take his place after that minister moved on.
Now as a church leader and sermonizer, Jimmy guides the congregation further into Christ, regardless of where they lie in their own faith journeys. Anyone can progress in their personal spiritual development, and with Jimmy as an adviser and one who lights the path ahead, building a meaningful relationship with God becomes much more achievable.
“If ministry is done correctly,” Jimmy points out, “it points people toward Jesus and not myself. My hope and my goal is that everyone I encounter and befriend would see Christ in me. They would then follow Jesus, and then disciple others to follow Him as well.”
I, for one, as I arose from the waters of my past self, certainly witnessed the coalescence of a path—maybe not one of future employment, or corporate value, or even higher education, but one of moral purpose and meaning in my value to others and in Christ. And my sincerest thanks are to Jimmy.