After Rev. Kyle Logan bid farewell to Whidbey to start a new church in Oregon, a new pastor has rolled into Grace by the Sea Anglican Church.

Father John Laffoon has been serving the little church in downtown Oak Harbor for two months and was officially welcomed with a ceremony on Sunday.

Laffoon, 44, described himself as a quiet introvert who enjoys skateboarding, hiking, pickleball, tennis and reading. In Washington, the Kentucky native found the ideal place for outdoor activities as well as spreading the gospel.

He grew up attending a small Independent Christian church in a rural community in western Kentucky.

According to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, the Independent Christian Churches were either founded as breakaway movements from existing Christian denominations or entirely independent of Western Christianity.

Since childhood, Laffoon knew he wanted to serve the church, though the idea of turning his faith into a profession came in his teen years, when he one day looked at his youth minister and thought it looked like a “cool” job.

He majored in education and biblical studies at Kentucky Christian University, thinking teaching was his true calling. He taught sixth graders in Charlotte, North Carolina. While the job was enjoyable, he found himself unable to speak as openly about his faith as he wanted to. And so, after a year, he moved to Turlock, California, where he worked as a youth minister between 2005 and 2008.

Though he no longer practices it as much as he used to in his youth, one of Laffoon’s favorite activities is skateboarding. This hobby led him to joining his best friend in Santiago, Chile, working as a youth minister with young skateboarders. He served from 2008 to 2012, when he got an “itch” for more education, he said.

“I was speaking with a lot of people who had a lot of big questions about Christianity and faith, and I would get frustrated with myself for not having better answers sometimes,” he said.

While pursuing a master of divinity and a master of theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, Laffoon met the Anglicans and “fell in love” with their tradition.

Particularly, he enjoyed the daily morning and evening prayer routine, which helps him avoid leaving anyone out of his prayers.

“Christians often say ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and then two minutes later they forget that they ever said that, unfortunately.”

After becoming an Anglican, Laffoon moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he served as a youth minister teaching tweens, teens and families. But after seven years, various conversations and a lot of prayer, he realized he wanted to become a senior pastor.

Additionally, while he loved Arizona and its beautiful sceneries, he found it “terribly hot.”

“I said ‘Lord, I’m willing to follow you wherever, but it sure would be nice to be somewhere else beautiful like this!’” he recalled saying.

When he came across a job opening at Grace by the Sea, a church that broke away from local the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church more than 15 years ago, Laffoon was impressed by photos of Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island and applied.

Now, he feels overwhelmed with the amount of beauty around him and the things to do.

“I love the church. I love Oak Harbor. I love Washington,” he said.

Laffoon is happy to chat with anyone who wants to ask questions about Christianity. His greatest joy, he said, is letting people know that there is meaning and purpose in life, and that God cares for people.

He suggests non-Christians to “give Christianity a chance,” and to email him to set up an appointment to have a conversation. Alternatively, he recommends two books, “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis and “The Reason for God” by Tim Keller.

For fellow Christians, he advises not getting discouraged, even when life gets hard.

Grace by the Sea is located at 540 Southeast Pioneer Way. For more information, visit gracebythesea.org or call (360) 679-3431.

In 2008, Laffoon moved to Chile to work as a youth minister with adolescents who shared his passion for skating. (Photo by Luisa Loi)

Pastor John Laffoon skates in the parking lot of Grace by the Sea. (Photo by Luisa Loi)

Pastor John Laffoon skates in the parking lot of Grace by the Sea. (Photo by Luisa Loi)