I’m Jason Dorsey, a husband of twenty-eight years, father of four great kids, three sons and a daughter, and a presbyterian pastor.
My wife, Jenny, has been my strong ally since we were married June 20, 1992 in Redding, CA. Here’s a picture of us the day we first held hands: Valentines Day, February 14, 1988.
I grew up on beautiful Camano Island in Puget Sound, Washington, in a family of artists. Art has been a part of my life from my earliest days. Here’s a video that shares that part of my story.
I attended Stanwood High School, Stanwood, WA, Class of 1987. My spiritual awakening the summer after I graduated from SHS directed my steps to Corban University, in Salem, OR, where I double majored in the humanities and Bible. After Corban, I still didn’t have a very clear plan for my life. But dear family friends said I could stay with them in Chicago. While there I attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I graduated from Trinity in 1995 with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Systematic Theology. I wrote my thesis on the nature of tradition in the theology of Georges Florovsky. The family friends I lived with in Chicago were leaders of a missionary organization and invited me to live with them in Moscow, Russia for a few months in 1992. Since then I’ve had an interest in Russia, Dostoyevsky, Orthodox architecture and theology, and currently have the privilege of serving on the board of Mission Eurasia.
In November, 1997 I was ordained in the Pacific Northwest Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America. I served for five years as an assistant pastor at Green Lake Presbyterian, now Trinity (1997-2002). I served as lead pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in downtown Indianapolis for thirteen years (2002-2015). A big part of my calling in Indianapolis was to work for the renewal of Indianapolis Public Schools. Here’s a little bit of that story. I’m completing a documentary that tells the story of an inner city high school basketball team that won the state championship against all odds and inspired a city in doing so. I’m hoping to have a screening of that documentary titled We are Family in the summer of 2020.
In the summer of 2003, I took myself through a process of mapping my identity and setting goals. I began to take my parishioners through this process and built out the content. I now call it Identity Mapping. In Indy, an advisory team provided valuable feedback on how to take the Identity Mapping discipleship curriculum beyond the walls of the church I pastored. They catalyzed the creation of the Identity Mapping curriculum, called The Name.
In January 2015, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I took a call to serve at Redeemer in Redmond, WA so I could be there for my mom and dad. I also decided to move forward with an art studio that I had dreamed of on a plot of land just south of my parent’s home on Camano. I have the fun of serving as the Artistic Director of Sunnyshore Studio.
Over the years I have fine-tuned the Identity Mapping curriculum, led many cohorts through it, coached many people, and had the joy of leading Identity Discovery sessions. I’m glad that finally, so many years since I first began, I have a well trod path to walk journey and the joy of helping them embrace their unique identity in Jesus Christ and step courageously into their calling.
Identity Mapping 