Scott Jefferson flew the company plane twice a year to the Bahamas on business. He drew a six-figure income plus bonuses and stock options. Working as vice president of human resources and legal affairs for Morton Salt International Inc., he was responsible for 10,000 employees in seven countries and all over the United States. The company was, among other things, the largest producer of air bags at the time.
But Jefferson recalls the day everything changed. His supervisor, the company president, had applauded him for his performance  something that should have encouraged him to continue his hard work. Instead, it nudged him further toward something he had been considering for more than 20 years, and he tendered his resignation.
"He said something like, if I stayed with the company, I'd one day be rich," Jefferson recalled of the good performance review. But Jefferson had known for a long time that being rich was not his ultimate aim.
In a sense, Jefferson was never a businessman at heart. He was a minister. Even studying business, receiving a master's degree in finance, and then pursuing a law degree, he knew he was a minister.
Jefferson accepted Christ at 15, influenced by the faith of his mother. Then as a college student he recommitted his life to Christ and began to evangelize on campus. "I have never stopped since that point," he said.
He was ordained in the Church of God in Christ in 1978 and worked in ministry with a mentoring pastor while he was still in school. "At the time I was studying law, I already knew what my calling was ultimately  full-time ministry," Jefferson said. But he entered the business world nonetheless.
Jefferson said his calling didn't fade, even through years of work in the corporate world. "Scripture talks about wearing this world as a loose-fitting garment," he said. "In the back of my mind I always remembered that ministry was my primary purpose."
He said he was waiting for his calling, for the right time and place God would use him in ministry. "I knew that it was God's timing and that it was God's will for me," he said.
While working as a corporate executive, Jefferson started a church in 1989 with three families meeting in his living room. It was 10 years later that the call came to quit his day job and minister full time.
Then, even though he had been prepared for it, expected it, waited for it for years, Jefferson said he struggled with his faith and God's will.
"I tried to bargain with God," Jefferson said. "I said, ‘OK, God, if you want me to go into the ministry, you bless me.'" God asked him to take a step of faith. The blessing was to come after the commitment. "God said, ‘No, if you go into the ministry, I'll bless you."
Already Jefferson was making more money than he ever thought he could make, more money than he could spend  so much money that paying for four daughters' college tuition was not even a concern for him in the career move.
"The Holy Spirit put an impression on my heart," he said. "The purpose of my life was ministry, not money."
So he leapt. "I went from the pinnacle of corporate America to servanthood," Jefferson said.
The living room church had been growing and continued to grow. Today True Light Fellowship Ministries in Dyer, Ind., near Chicago, is now building a new facility to accommodate 1,000 worshippers.
The growth didn't surprise Jefferson. He believed God would be faithful to his ministry. What did surprise him was how busy ministry was. Before becoming a full-time pastor the then 48-year-old executive was concerned he wouldn't be challenged enough in ministry.
He would no longer have the challenge of constantly being confronted with legal situations, employment concerns, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, lawsuits. He would no longer have "10,000 people calling … with 10,000 questions." And he would in essence be giving up his law practice.
"I didn't know how I would handle going from all of that activity to just ministry," he said. "But ministry has filled the void very well. As a matter of fact I make the joke that I left my part-time job to go to my full-time job," Jefferson said.
As a minister Jefferson has been able to use some of his negotiating skills and his understanding of business principles for work in the church. "The nuances of how successful businesses operate," has been a good carryover from work to ministry, he said, as well as, "the ability to be able to deal with, relate to and motivate people."
He still uses his legal skills also, for churches that need his help in incorporation or property issues, etc. He said he does some pro bono work but also works as a certified church consultant to churches in need.
Looking back Jefferson said, "God has a progression for all of us. Sometimes the most difficult thing is to go through that progression."
But he said the most important part of the decision to move from business to ministry was the prayer that surrounded it. For others considering a similar move, Jefferson says, "Pray. Pray diligently and know that it is God. Don't do it on a whim. Don't do it because someone else is doing it or because of what you think is going to happen. Pray. Seek counsel from someone senior in the ministry that you respect and admire. Then after you've done all that and you know that it is God  go for it."
