Cory Powell: Showing People They are Loved

Showing People They’re Loved—

Shepherding to Cory Powell

Amy Boyle

There’s something about showing others that they are loved…

To Cory Powell, a “College Wes lifer,” this is the “starting place” for shepherding that empowers people to flourish in all areas of their life.

Cory is a husband, father, financial advisor, and children’s sports coach.

College Wesleyan has been foundational in his faith and formation. It is the church family where his parents were married, where he was dedicated and baptized, and where he and Katie (his wife, married in 2011) now raise their two boys. 

What once was just a place to attend, has since become a “place for conversations to share experiences” among “pockets of people” who grow and encourage one another together. 

7:30 am Thursday coffee with seven other men and serving in SPLASH children’s ministry, are two specific spaces where Cory has been shaped and supported by the church, showing him how to shepherd and share God’s love with others.

It’s a sense of “imposter syndrome” and a struggle against “feeling disqualified” and “unconfident” which Cory describes, as the challenge that keeps people from discipling others.

And at the end of the day, it’s only “dependence on God” that strengthens people to overcome those insecurities and care for those He has placed in their life.

By “being in communion with God… spending time in His presence… in His Word… and hearing from His people…” Cory is filled up to shepherd others.

In coaching his kids’ sports teams, he’s found that “the starting place” is showing kids who “don’t know they’re loved” Who their value comes from. Fathering his sons in this truth has been one of his shepherding spaces.

And to Cory, “the same principle” applies to his workspace, where peoples’ desire to be seen and need to be loved, must always precede the project or progress being pursued.

So… there’s something about showing others that they are loved…

Shepherding happens in simple and intentional acts of presence.

As someone consistently “willing to listen” and “follow through on commitments,” Cory’s confidence in Christ and care for other people shepherds the kids, coworkers, and family God has invited him to care for… reminding them that “they are loved.”