MICHAEL AND Amber Clark have spent years shaping their family and their ministry alongside the people of Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Their story unfolds not in dramatic revelation, but in the slow, steady shaping of a calling formed in daily life, refined through shared ministry.
The Clarks’ journey began in the early years, when they served side by side in Fort Worth, where both were discovering the particular gifts they brought to the work of the church.
“We both have strengths in different areas which complement one another, especially in ministry,” Michael reflected. Over time, he began to notice how his strengths aligned in ways that supported a meaningful ministry.
Amber recalled that same season with similar gratitude. Working together felt natural from the beginning, even when others wondered how a married couple could share both a home and a vocation.
“It’s just never been an issue for us,” Amber said. “We have always trusted our calls… and getting to do this together is pretty awesome.”
As the years unfolded, the shape of their ministry stretched, surprised, and matured them in ways neither could have anticipated. Michael admitted that seminary could never prepare a pastor for every circumstance. There are moments, he noted, when ministry demands a step of sheer faith. It is in those unanticipated responsibilities that he has often found his calling strengthened most.
For Amber, the greatest surprise has been her call to preaching. A shy teenager terrified of public speaking, she once could not imagine proclaiming the gospel before hundreds of people.
“If you had told me at 16 that I would be preaching regularly in front of over 200 people, I would have told you that you were crazy,” she said.
Yet her journey, in often surprising ways, led her directly into what once frightened her most. Preaching now stands as one of the places where her trust in God deepens week after week.
Pastoring has also been a teacher, revealing their strengths, exposing their limits, and illuminating the places where grace meets them. Michael has learned that while knowledge matters, relationships matter more.
“You can know a lot,” he reflected, “but being able to sit down with someone… is just as important.” Early in ministry, he leaned heavily on knowledge, but over time came to understand that shepherding hearts requires far more than intellectual ability.
Amber described pastoring as a landscape that reveals both strength and frailty, sometimes within the same breath. Ministry has shown her that love expands when her own capacity runs thin, and she believes God’s provision fills the gaps she cannot.
“Ministry is ruthless sometimes,” Amber admitted, but even in its weight, she finds joy, humility, and rest.
Life at home reflects that same intentionality. Their family finds joy in the simple and the shared. Michael treasures watching their children flourish in the activities they love. For Amber, joy springs from seeing their children feel truly at home in the church they serve. Their daughter is often barefoot in the sanctuary, a detail that delights her mother. The relationships their family has built within the congregation are among their greatest blessings. As Amber said, “Our church schedule is our family schedule… I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Parenthood, too, has reshaped their ministry. For Michael, raising children reframed his approach to time and presence. The once-constant availability of early ministry has yielded to a more deliberate stewardship of family moments — space he protects knowing that “you only get one shot at some of these things.” Their congregation’s support of this balance, he noted, “makes all the difference in the world.”
Amber described parenthood as a revelation of God’s own heart. Seeing her children through a parent’s eyes has expanded her compassion, patience, and understanding of the people she serves. It has enabled her to extend grace more freely, recognizing in others the same belovedness she sees in her own.
In seasons of hardship, both draw strength from witnessing the faithfulness of God within their community. Michael speaks of unexpected encouragement, like calls, notes, and acts of kindness that arrive precisely when needed. He anchors himself in moments when the congregation lives out Scripture’s call to “equip the saints,” such as children instinctively helping a stranger or the community rallying during their One Day Outreach.
Amber is grounded by the sacred moments when the church becomes a refuge, when people show up for one another with unreserved grace.
“Those are the moments I hang on to when things get hard,” she said. Watching her congregation respond without hesitation to needs within and beyond their walls continually renews her purpose.
As they look back on the life they have built together, as parents and as pastors, Michael hopes people remember their faithful stewardship of a historic church entrusted to their care. Amber hopes people remember the love that has shaped their home, their ministry, and the many quiet moments of walking beside others through life.
Their call, lived daily rather than dramatically, offers a remarkable testimony — a ministry formed in devotion, shared purpose, and a love that endures every season with grace. GN
