Get to know Jake Mills and his family!
Jake grew up in a Christian family in Abilene, TX. He remembers being in the church whenever the doors were open as a kid. He gave his life to Christ at a Vacation Bible School when he was 8 years old, but he would later go “all in” on following Christ while plugged into the High School Ministry of Beltway Park Church in Abilene. Jake met his wife when they were 8th graders, and they started dating as seniors, leading to an early marriage when they were just 19. He and Erin both attended Christian Universities in Abilene. Erin graduated with an Elementary Education degree from Abilene Christian University and Jake with a Church Ministry degree from Hardin-Simmons University.
Jake began full-time vocational ministry while in college as a youth pastor. In 2006, while on a short-term mission trip, Jake and Erin heard the Lord call them to be missionaries in China. While raising money and preparing to go, they welcomed their first child — Kennedi. She was 3 months old when they landed in Xi’an. The Mills Family also did ministry in Wuhan, training local pastors, using English-teaching as a doorway to share the Gospel, and teaching Biblical Greek in Chinese. While back in the States on furlough, they felt the Lord lead them toward church ministry again, Jake feeling called to be a lead pastor and use the preaching gift the Lord had given him. Jake feels privileged to have led two churches over a span of 8 years — one in Wisconsin (where two more Mills kids were born) and one in Illinois. Both churches experienced incredible gospel-centered growth during Jake’s time there. Along the way, Jake added a master’s degree in Practical Theology from Nelson University.
After going through a difficult trial in 2020 (in addition to the pandemic) that refined and strengthened Jake as a Christ-follower and pastor, the family moved back home to Abilene. There Jake joined the Senior and Teaching teams and has led the Missions and Outreach departments of his home church, Beltway Park (a large multi-site church of around 5,000 people in-person attendance). While in Abilene, the Mills family doubled their kid quotient by adopting 3 awesome kids from foster care. They now have 6 kids — Kennedi (15), Xavier (13), Marie (11), Joshua (10), Cristian (10), Hannah (8).
Jake has been on a journey to find the church that Jesus has called him to serve as Lead Pastor for the next 25 years. He wants to go deep with a Body of Believers, and be part of a Gospel-centered movement that changes a whole city for Christ. After much prayer and discussion, he and Erin, along with the elders, believe New Life is that Body of Believers.
Introductions
Our Take on Jake
I believe the Lord will use Jake to lead us into a season of even greater Gospel impact here in our city and also beyond. Jake has a deep passion to see more people come to know Jesus, and it’s contagious! I’ve also come to understand that God has done a deep humbling work in his heart, and it shows. So I’m looking forward to supporting him and serving under his leadership and watching God do what God does… GROW HIS FAMILY!
– Steve Benninger, Lead Pastor & Elder
After spending the weekend with Jake and Erin, including an evening in our home, it was apparent they are both very excited to be a part of the NL family! They listened well, readily answered any and all of our questions, and shared their hearts for the role they hope to fill in the future of our church. Our confidence in Jake's calling to lead NL was confirmed.
– Paul Trasin, Elder
I believe Jake and Erin will be a great fit at New Life. In addition to the ministry and character items others have mentioned, Jenny and I enjoyed them personally and think others will feel the same way - both current New Lifers and those who have yet to join us.
– T.J. Leach, East Campus Pastor
What impressed me about Jake is that he obviously loves Jesus and His church. He is a strong leader who wants to see people come to know Jesus as Savior and the church to always be taking new ground. And I love his commitment to his family - 6 children including a sibling group they adopted on top of a dynamite wife, Erin, who equals him in her love for Jesus and His church. I think Jake is the right combination of strong, advancing leader and a humble unassuming servant. I’m also impressed with his level of experience. Pastoring and growing 2 churches, serving as missionaries in China, and working at a large, multi-campus church where he oversaw a huge staff.
– Jay Firebaugh, Small Groups Pastor & Elder
I trust the Lord, but when we entered this process I wondered if we would really be able to find the right fit for our next Lead Pastor. What we said we needed seemed like a tall order – a humble man, a strong leader, someone that deeply loves the Gospel, a pastor with vigor to reach more people for Christ, a committed family man, a person with Lead Pastor experience, someone who understands multi-site, a brother who is likable that we all would want to serve alongside (personally I want someone that I will enjoying working with for the next 20 years) – surely New Life was asking too much. But God is a big God and He has heard our prayers. I believe that Jake fits “us” and what we are looking for! He surely is not perfect, but he seems teachable and ready to jump in the messiness of ministry with us!
- Alan Budd, Executive Pastor
New Life Church has a long history of Jesus Centered Gospel focused ministry. As I think about the future of our church I know we need a leader who loves Jesus, loves people and is committed to Gospel centered, scripture focused, Jesus soaked, outreach with a love and passion for the truth and for people to know the truth! I believe Jake Mills is just that kind of man of God, leader, Pastor, husband, and dad. I believe he’s exactly who Jesus is bringing to New Life to lead us through the next couple of decades for both the kingdom and glory of God. I look forward to and am excited to minister alongside him as we continue obeying the command of Christ to make disciples!
– Claude Davis, Whitehall Campus Pastor, Elder
During my time with Jake and Erin, I felt a humble spirit in each of them as well as strong desire to reach people for Christ. Jake’s focus is on leading more people to Christ, but also on maturing the saints (through discipling and mentoring) to become more – more knowledgeable in the Word of God, more confident in Christ, more effective for the Kingdom of God. At the same time his heart is for the church not to forget to look outside the walls- to meet the needs of the “least of these”, -the poor, the orphans, the widows. Missions and Missionary support is a priority, in order to reach the Lost in places we either can’t reach or aren’t reaching. Jake and Erin’s hearts already seem closely aligned to our New Life DNA , even before we met. I truly believe that “The Best Is Yet To Come” for New Life Church and that God will continue to guide our faithful congregation, with Jake as our Lead Shepherd, to Be More (mature in wisdom and truth), Do More (vision implementation and willingness to serve), and Lead More (evangelism focus and training) to Christ.
– Jay Aikens, Elder
After meeting Jake and Erin and chatting with them at a few different gatherings and in different settings, I think they will fit in well at New Life. Jake has an excellent background in pastoral ministry and his desire to reach others for Christ is evident. It is exciting to see what God is doing and has done through this transition process.
– Brett Starr, Student & Family Ministries Pastor
Jake and Erin are genuine, kind, fun, wise, and have a HUGE passion for reaching the lost. They love Jesus immensely, and are very biblically sound. I loved getting to know them.
– Joanna Briley, Local Outreach Director
Jake seems like he has a lot of great qualities to offer and appears to align well with our statement of faith and ministry philosophy in discipleship and evangelism. I like that he has a high value on reaching kids and students and that he desires to always be a church where kids want to be. Jake has a passion for reaching the unchurched by meeting their needs and then inviting them in. He also likes to strategize and seek alignment with staff for greater impact. Jake and Erin are both personable and down to earth and they place a high value on relationships!
Darcy Seltzer, KidzLife Director
Sermon Samples
