Drive through one of the Grace Church parking lots for a weekend service, and at some point, you might get some navigation help from Nate. He’s a member of the parking lot team, and with a shy smile on his face, he’s happy to direct drivers toward a parking spot.

At his day job, Nate is a skilled foreman with several workers operating under his leadership in building everything from fences to sheds. Perhaps that’s why he was first drawn to the parking lot team. It’s not too different from being on the job site. You’re outdoors in the elements, using your hands to direct; except instead of directing projects and materials, Nate directs cars. Plus, he doesn’t have to use a whole lot of words to do it. As a quiet, hands-on person, the parking lot team is the perfect comfort zone for Nate.

But there’s another side to Nate that he’s just begun tapping into—a creative side that pushes him past the boundaries of his comfort zone.

About a year or two ago, Nate joined the Photography Team at Grace Church, “I’ve always loved photography and I love Grace Church, and I was already taking photos of the band every now and then,” says Nate.

While joining the team has given him greater access to growing his technical skills with DSLR cameras, he says it’s actually in his relationships with people that he’s experienced the biggest growth from the team. A lot of Grace Church photography is centered around capturing moments of people connecting with one another and with God, a subject Nate was not used to when he first joined the team. “Previously, I didn’t take many pictures of people. I mainly did landscapes and architecture.”

Nate explains the reason: “I don’t like getting close to people or possibly making others uncomfortable,” he says. But with each shoot, he began to grow a little more at ease. He says, “When you do photography, you need to get close so that you can capture the moment. I’ve realized that I have to listen to other people and realize that I’m usually more uncomfortable than they are.”

Says Nate, “[Now] I’m more comfortable being around people I don’t know, definitely a lot more into taking pictures of people, and am more willing to get out of my comfort zone to do that.”

Interested in finding out more about what happens behind the scenes with our creative teams at Grace Church? From time to time, we host a behind-the-scenes night to allow you to see how our creative teams work.

Click here to sign up for our next Behind the Scenes: Worship, Communications, Media night!