Beau Norton
Youth Director
Like those adventure books where you can choose your own
path and turn to the corresponding page, the choice is yours and yours alone.
To read Beau's background, see paragraphs 1-3. To slay the dragon, read paragraph 4.
Beau became the youth director with SJPC late in 2009.
Having grown up in a churched family Beau came to have a personal relationship
with Jesus early on in his life. As a native of Jacksonville,
FL, Beau graduated from Terry Parker
High School in 2002 where
he was involved in a wide range of activities from baseball to drama.
After graduation Beau attended the Florida Community College
of Jacksonville (now the Florida State College at Jacksonville) and obtained his A.A. degree.
During his time at F.C.C.J. he participated in the school’s choir which was
featured as one of only two community college choirs to be invited to perform at the National Convention of the American Choral
Directors Association. Following his time at F.C.C.J. Beau moved down to
Orlando to continue his education at the University of Central Florida. In 2008 Beau graduated
from U.C.F. with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies with specific
emphasis in the area of Judaic studies.
While Beau had felt the call to ministry during his high
school years, it wasn’t until 2005 that he received his first ministerial
position. Beau became the youth pastor at a local Korean community church
called The Beautiful Church of Orlando. Following his graduation, Beau felt led
to move back to Jacksonville and eventually
become the intern youth minister at Parkwood
Baptist Church.
From there Beau made the decision to continue his ministry education and pursue
a Master’s Degree in Divinity with the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
and is in his second year.
If you got through all the boring stuff, here’s the pay off…
Beau is a nerd. In his spare time Beau loves to play the
guitar (awkwardly), sing (inharmoniously), play video games (marvelously),
watch movies (frequently) and act (without dignity)…perhaps that’s why he loves
working with the youth so much? He is also currently engaged (excitedly) and
planning (anxiously) on being married (whole heartedly) to Lauren Bornhorst on
August 18th, 2010. The couple is currently in the process of
building a house out on the west side of Jacksonville
in preparation for married life (he couldn't think of any more “ly’s”).
Hmm…well in a nutshell that’s Beau. How he got into
that nutshell is a matter of debate, but alas like the chicken and the egg
there are some things we just weren’t meant to know.
