Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/653157
near Denver that lags behind Colorado averages on income, employment, and housing. As a result, 14 years ago, Wellspring Church came into being. Billy's early training and mentoring in his college church in Fort Collins taught him the value of a life of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. His time in seminary grounded him in the Word of God and the eternal value of salvation in Jesus Christ. His internship during seminary at an Episcopal church taught him the beauty of revering the Father through the rhythms and practices of the liturgical calendar. Wellspring is the functional culmination of Billy's faith journey. The church is Anglican, and a joyfully charismatic, evangelical, sacramental congregation. And under Billy's leadership, it pursues the Godhead in a beautifully Trinitarian manner. FORGIVING HIS FATHER'S FAILURE Seven years into his ministry, the church was thriving, but a secret was unearthed that rocked Billy's whole family. He discovered that his father—a drug and alcohol addictions counselor—had become embroiled in illegal and unethical behavior. When Billy confronted his father on his suspicions, his father's reaction was explosive. Instead of offering explanation or contrition, Billy's father fled the state. Eventually the law caught up with him, and he went to jail. As things came to light, the revelation of his father's past and present transgressions left deep wounds in his family. In the years since his father's incarceration and subsequent release, Billy's father succumbed to alcoholism, has been in and out of jail several times, and is often homeless. When Billy last went to see his father at a shelter several months ago, he felt the Lord tell him that the most loving thing he could do for his father would be to let him go. "I believe my dad knows the Lord, but he is a slave to this addiction. And it was like I was hearing the Lord tell me, 'This isn't the way it was meant to be, but all things will be 18 SPRING 2016 TAKE IT FROM HERE BravissimoS/iStock simonidadjordjevic/iStock