comments from the search committee
Alan Judge
God in His grace and merciful providence led us to a man that everyone—including God’s man—completely agreed upon in a way that only God could have done.
Lindsey Wright
He boldly trusts and rests in The Lord, was born to lead and preach, is gospel and grace driven, passionate, empathetic, loving, and has a great sense of humor. He is straightforward, bold, loves people, and does not take himself too seriously.
Brand Griffin
It didn’t take long for us to realize the most attractive candidates were already great pastors that loved their congregation and their congregations loved them. We knew we couldn’t persuade them away from their churches, so coming to Southwood would have to be of the Lord.
Tim Schlichter
The Search Committee prayed for a man who would “love well” the people of Southwood and Huntsville. From our initial conversations with Jean, it was very clear of his love for the people of Lagniappe Church and Bay St. Louis. When we asked what he would miss most if God called him away, he said, “Everything. Everything is loved as much as I can love it.”
Susan Lynch
[I was drawn to] his emphasis on God’s grace, brokenness and repentance. Bringing the gospel to bear on every situation. Jean wrote to the committee “The Senior Pastor MUST be the chief repenter in the church, must be. You must lead by brokenness. If you desire to see Huntsville repent then we must lead by repentance as a church. It’s messy and counter-intuitive but it exalts Jesus and not us.”
Bob Greenman
We started off with enthusiasm but it became discouraging when all “our” efforts did not seem to be working and we found ourselves crying out to Him and growing in our sense that we could not do this without His divine intervention. Then God showed us His man—Jean Larroux —in an amazing Parade of Providence. However, He did it through the process that He allowed in which our discernment and knowledge of who He wanted for Southwood was refined. To the extent that when He brought Jean to us, He had simultaneously brought us to the point where we could act!
Carrie Jakab
In the beginning, we wrestled over what we needed but we also prayed for wisdom, discernment, and His timing. In the middle of the process we had tasted what we wanted in our pastor but we also prayed for wisdom, discernment, and His timing. At the end, just when we thought there was nothing else and the search seemed endless, we tasted Jesus. Jean was the vessel but the potter was Jesus.