Someone You Should Know: Jeff Peterson

In our Someone You Should Know series, we interview Faith members to help us get to know them, see how God is working in their lives, and make new connections within our community. In this episode we get to know Jeff Peterson.

Meet today's podcast guest: Jeff Peterson

• Automated Transcription

• Seth Weber 0:00
  Today on faith matters, the one, the only. Jeff Gordon Peterson,
  
  Seth Weber 0:12
  I'm Seth Weber, and you're listening to faith matters, a podcast designed to help you think biblically in matters of the Christian faith and update you on matters of faith, Bible, church,
  
  Seth Weber 0:39
  it's good to have you here. Jeff
  
  Jeff Peterson 0:40
  Lying is a sin. Mr. Weber,
  
  Seth Weber 0:47
  it really is. Thank
  
  Seth Weber 0:56
  you. Tell us about your childhood. Where'd you grow up? You never need to really grow up.
  
  Jeff Peterson 1:01
  No, most people don't think so. I born in Spokane, moved to Seattle, four or five, came back at 15. Okay, very bad childhood. Lots of bad stuff happened to us. My grandmother, my dad's mom, I lived with her the last year of her life, and she told me all kinds of stories where she come over the house and there'd be no food and no clothes and no shoes, and we'd be out playing in three feet of snow, because we're kids, yeah, and I'm the oldest of six, and we have six make it even so. Step dad was a monster. But when I was one ish, my grandparents and my parents were playing pinnacle in the kitchen, as they do, as they Well, and a long time ago, I don't know if they still do, I was crawling around, got under the sink, and there apparently was bleach without a cap. And you know, you don't know until they try. So I tried, which ruined my beautiful singing voice, and I can't smell or taste almost anything. That's just crazy. So ghost peppers are what I have to have so I can taste Wow, or a whole bunch of Sriracha. Wow. My wife, as most of you know, is a pretty good cook, amazing cook, and she'll say, Hey, how was that? I said, Well, texture was great.
  
  Seth Weber 2:28
  So you're a texture guy now,
  
  Jeff Peterson 2:32
  well, you're
  
  Seth Weber 2:33
  a musician. Tell us when, when did you start playing music? 10
  
  Jeff Peterson 2:36
  years old. I got a clarinet. Okay, had just a few lessons, because we moved like 50 times when I was a kid, okay? In Seattle, lots of Seattle, okay. And we moved so much that I learned about a third of the notes, okay. And then the next place that we went, you already knew we're supposed to know your notes and be in a band, okay? So they put me in this band, and got to junior high, and somehow I was pretty good by then. Just figured it out on your own. Yes, I did. And then when I went to another junior high school, I'm pretty sure that junior high teacher told the new one that, you know, I was a good musician, because he was going to move me up to the big band. Okay? And so in West Seattle high at that time, there's 30 clarinets. So he said, All right, you're going to be 31st and starting tomorrow, you can challenge anyone, including number one, and if you win, you'll switch places. So after, I don't know, three or four weeks, he comes up and says, You're not going to challenge anyone, are you? Nope, I'm happy down here. They said, come here. Showed me a case that opened, and I opened it, put it together. Like, what is this thing? Put it together and was a bass clarinet. Okay? He said they didn't have a player. And I didn't even knew there was such a thing.
  
  Seth Weber 3:58
  Okay? So and thus, started your life in bass world. Yeah, I,
  
  Jeff Peterson 4:04
  I actually don't hear very well, even bone conduction. So I can't sing because I can't hear myself, huh? I ended up in all state bass code and high school, wow, which is pretty cool. But yeah, you have to really, you know, five notes, it's a bass player.
  
  Seth Weber 4:24
  Where does that? It's like, your fourth string bass.
  
  Jeff Peterson 4:27
  So going into my senior year, I asked the band director, can I play tenor sax parts with my bass clarinet in jazz band? Oh, he's like, Oh, that'd be cool, but we already have a tenor sax player. What about bass guitar? Well, my best friend at 12 had a bass guitar, and so on my 13th birthday, I got a bass Okay, and I played and played and played and played. I would take my bass clarinet home and my bass guitar and sometimes my amplifier home on the bus. I. We were, I was living downtown and going to Rogers and practice and, you know, until 1011, o'clock at night, and then, okay, bring it all back. Wow. And then it sucked, because it was also a football player, so, so you basically
  
  Seth Weber 5:13
  just took up the whole back of the bus. They're waiting
  
  Jeff Peterson 5:15
  for me as I dragged got in a band after high school, and pretty much been in a band ever since, till recently, when the guitar player decided to move to Seattle, of all places I know. So
  
  Seth Weber 5:29
  how did you come to know Jesus? Does that happen when you're a child, when you're a teenager? Where in the where in the sort of flow of things? Does that happen?
  
  Jeff Peterson 5:37
  Oh, well, after high school, my sister, the next number two, she would call me every Saturday night and say, Hey, won't you come to church with me? Okay? Of course, my response was, you know, Christianity has killed more people on this earth than anything else. And finally, just to get everyone back, I said, All right, go Hillary Baptist up in Hilliard, there. Okay? And for the only time ever, they had an altar call, and I came forward and accepted Christ. Wow. And I remember the weight that lifted off my shoulders when I was in the back room praying with a couple of the elders of the church was remarkable. Wow. So God just changed your heart fast. So then I started going to church there, obviously, okay. And kind of like we used to do here, they every once on would pass out a hey, if you're interested in ministry. I said, Hey, I'm a bass player. And turns out the pianist who became my best friend had been praying for a bass player forever.
  
  Seth Weber 6:46
  Well, how old were you at this point? 2525
  
  Jeff Peterson 6:50
  okay, gave my life to Christ. 63 now, like every other church on earth, they had some yucky sound equipment, but no sound person. So I ended up running sound when I wasn't playing. Installed a sound system there, installed lights. They got a drummer, the pastor's dad, and all the old people were like, oh, it's like a bar in here. And maybe six months later if we didn't play, because old people are like, how come you're not playing?
  
  Seth Weber 7:24
  Where's the rock and roll?
  
  Jeff Peterson 7:27
  We just had to talk to them about when they listen to the music, that they listen to the Gaither band or whatever, there's a whole band and and it didn't take long to realize it's not if it's good enough for the gaithers, good enough.
  
  Seth Weber 7:41
  There you go. That's funny. Okay, so when we had Mitzi on the podcast a while back, she told us the story of how you guys met and fell in love. Tell it. Tell us your perspective of all that you can do. A short version doesn't have to be the the whole thing, but summary of that,
  
  Jeff Peterson 7:59
  Oh, she got it all wrong. So I don't know if you could make it short, but a group was singing. Group was coming to our church, and you could come and apply, try out if you're a musician or a singer. Okay? And I was like, I'm not going to this. Yuck. So before they came, the pastor asked if I'd come and unlock this stuff, because I was the head of sound okay, and unlock the thing, make sure they had whatever they needed. And they got there, and they set everything up, and they put the sound board in the middle of the crowd, which is where it belongs. But I find out a little bit later, they don't have a sound guy. They just fired him. Okay, so I talked to their bass player for a while. Said, Hey, would you be able to run sound for us? I suppose so. Ran sound form. First song was over, and the keyboard leader of the band says, Is it too loud in here? And the whole whole crowd is like, no. They got all excited, because now they finally had a church, I could crank it up a little bit nice. And then afterwards, they're talking to me and telling me they go overseas in the winter time, okay? Because no church wants them in their church. You know, Christmas, New Years, sure. So ended up going to India now winter with most of that group. And it was cheesy. I ran sound, yeah, played bass, okay, ran sound from stage while I'm playing base, okay? And then I'm 31 at this point, oldest person ever been in the ministry. And the leader said, All right, Jeff, you're up. I'm up. What you got to do the message. Never shared my faith ever. And so first time I share my. Faith is in 3500 kids in India. Oh, my goodness, yeah. And I get off stage, I'm just sweating, and the band's like, that was awesome. So I ended up I was bass player, sound guy and speaker for the band my whole first year I had one day off. I'm kind of used to that, so that wasn't so bad, but that one day off was finding that shirt to send to Mitzi. October 28 1993 okay, we blew into her church. The only girls on tour that had ever liked me were either eight or under or 80 and over, she had me look at her car. I looked at her car, sent me a sent the team a thank you letter. Then after Christmas, we drove all the way back down to Miami, worked our way back up, and they called her church and said, Can we come? So that was the second time I saw her, and the third time I saw her, everyone was going home to fundraise, but I basically paid for my way, because the church wasn't supporting me very much, and I said, You're sending me to Charlotte to fundraise. So third time I met her, 12 hours from the time I landed. We were engaged, which I didn't plan on. I just wanted to go down and, you know, hang with the girl I knew that stupidly liked me.
  
  Seth Weber 11:26
  Do you stop doing the band stuff at that point, or did you keep doing it for a while? Are you married?
  
  Jeff Peterson 11:30
  No, and I decided that's too hard of a life to be nearly married. Yep, yep. So I moved to Spokane. Found a job. I told her, we'll go anywhere in the world. I don't care. I don't really have a lot of ties. But I was going to school previous at Eastern, okay, and so she's, oh, go to Spokane. I told her, there's never any natural disasters like in Charlotte. It is. It is a wonderful thing about living here in our first year, there was ice storm, there was Firestorm, there was earthquakes. How did you end up at Faith? Bible, church, ARP church, spiritually died. The people that were holding up faith in the building started moving on to other churches, I was am still hold that your church is your home and your family as much as your own children. So we we prayed about it and talked about it and decided we're going to stay. We're going to see this thing through. And then we got pregnant, we said, we can't subject our kids to this. So we tried a bunch of churches. One church guys playing guitar before service starts. And you know, as people are coming in and they're talking to each other, and he stops and says, You need to shut up. This time is to get your heart right with God, we never went back. So another church was 99% white. Choir was up there dancing while they're singing, and the worship pastor, or maybe the pastor, I don't remember, but walks with a wireless mic from the foyer through the aisle and messing up people's hair as he's going while he's singing, and gets up on stage and like, okay, we're not coming back here either. And then we came here. I didn't even know this place existed. I don't know how we found it. And John Smith did Luke in 45 minutes. Oh, my goodness. And neither she's from a Methodist Church, and the pastor that married us was the first actual Christian that they'd have in the pastorate. Okay? And our pastor was topical. And then we get, you know, all of Luke, 100 miles an hour. Like, I remember going home, like, what just happened? Wow. And then we came again, because it couldn't be that amazing and psychotic on next time. And they had the hey, if you're interested in the church, you know, come after, between services. And they had get to know about us. And we had Earl, who we didn't know was blind until after, and he did our interview and talked to us, and gets to the end of the time and hands us papers there sign this and your members, wow, they really did it fast back then they did so he I signed, and on the way home, she was angry. I thought, we talk about this. And I said, Well, it's. Uh, exegesical teaching, yeah, the at that time, we had a children's ministry, ministry that was writing their own material instead of wanna, and was being sold around the world, actually. And then frogs ministry, which I got involved in, this was real strong. I said, Where else do you want to raise your kid? What else do you need to know the band was good, the sound sucked. To fix that. I say that everywhere. And yeah. So we started coming, and I wrote that I play bass on the week, on the weekly things, you know? Sure. So they got me up to the Asaph Christmas party. Yup,
  
  Seth Weber 15:44
  yup. Worship ministry used to be called Asaph. Bring your bass. I
  
  Jeff Peterson 15:47
  brought my bass, and it was John, the worship pastor's wife had talked to Mitzi, found out I'm a sound guy, been a sound all over the world. And she said, Well, you make sure he tells John that he's a sound man. So I go up there with looking for someplace plug in my bass, and, oh, your wife says, I'm supposed to tell you I'm a sound guy. So the next Monday, I come in for practice, and I'm back there with the two guys that had been running sound for a long time. Okay? And I'm not the most tactful guy when it comes to this.
  
  Seth Weber 16:23
  You don't say.
  
  Jeff Peterson 16:26
  I've tried to think to myself, How do I they didn't know the difference between a pre and a post button on the channels, yeah. And I finally said, you know, guys, it was me. I would make all of these buttons post. Oh, why? And I explained, well, we wondered what that button was for. So that's funny. At the end of practice, John comes back and asks the two guys if they, you know, train anything. Train me on anything. But no, actually, he trained us. Very real, Sam, how to eat you. And that's funny. So I've been here 2122 years. I was told the other day or an employee. Okay, actually,
  
  Seth Weber 17:09
  Jeff is the one employee at Faith Bible Church that no one really knows. He's an employee. He just kind of flies under the radar. And what I do, in fact, you're not even listening on the website. I need to get to on the website. So tell me. Tell me. Tell me about your kids, your family and your kids. Very fun, creative names. My
  
  Jeff Peterson 17:24
  wife, well, we never got ultrasound. We never knew boy or girl. Okay? So we had to come up with a boy name and a girl name every time. First one, if it's a boy, she liked the name, Seth, it's a great name, which is actually he's named after the snake in the BC comic series, okay, but she said, You have to give him a middle name. So I gave him mine, boring.
  
  Seth Weber 17:46
  Your middle name was literally boring, or Gordon. Gordon, I'm Jeff.
  
  Jeff Peterson 17:51
  Gordon, oh yes, you are. So then next kid was a girl. She liked the name Emma, so I gave her mom's middle name, Marie. Okay, boring. Next kid was Geiser. No, it was uh, gray. Wanted gray after grab gray middle name, yeah, now I gotta pick the middle one. So I thought clouds are, or my favorite was, Earl I would have been great. Earl Gray. I'm a big tea drinker, and I still remember like yesterday, she's almost ready to pop, and she's laying back down in bed as I'm still getting undressed, and says, What about sky, sir? So I ran into the kitchen with the refrigerator magnet letters, s, k, y, z r. I'm like, That's awesome. So his guys are skies are gray, and what I convinced her was that nobody knows your middle name unless you want them to know your middle name. Uh huh. So guys just kind of a different name, s, k, y, z r, yeah. So next one, if it was a girl, she liked the name Claire, and then Mrs. Doherty actually said, One day, well, what about Annette? There you go, because I play clarinet. Yeah, it's perfect. And then if it was a boy that time, she liked the name Tucker, and I just said, it's got to be doubt, because I am the tire. So the next one was a boy, and he stuck her down,
  
  Seth Weber 19:24
  down such a great middle name. She said, he doesn't he doesn't struggle with doubt, does he? Oh no,
  
  Jeff Peterson 19:32
  he, he knows his position on everything. He's very confident. Yes, great kid, the only kid we basically never disciplined because we never had to. Still today, and kids were driving around with her one day, and there's an empty seat. So they said, Hey, we need a baby. So became foster to adopt parents and and we went and picked up a four and a half pound baby girl, and. Name something a, and we didn't like that name at all, so she was little a. Still today I call her little a, so it had to be an a name. And we kind of came up with autumn rain together, nice, R, A, y, N, E, and then doubt doesn't have a B, because that's just,
  
  Seth Weber 20:22
  so, yeah, that was it. That's the rundown. Okay, all right. So what has God been teaching you lately?
  
  Jeff Peterson 20:27
  Men are scum,
  
  Seth Weber 20:31
  as in, like men and, as opposed to, women are just in general, humanity. And
  
  Jeff Peterson 20:34
  I've been reading, uh, Genesis from the beginning. Okay, wow. Our fathers were losers when it comes to relations with ladies, hundreds of concubines and, oh, she's cute. Take her as my wife. Oh, I like her. Wow. It's hard enough one. What were they thinking?
  
  Seth Weber 20:59
  Sure, so, how's that been impacting your heart?
  
  Jeff Peterson 21:03
  How I treat people? I think we're all sinners in our own ways. And everyone, everyone sins the same on some things, but then they have their own weaknesses. And I think, know if it's forgiveness, but allowing people to not be perfect,
  
  Seth Weber 21:33
  patience with people well in a
  
  Jeff Peterson 21:35
  church setting, especially because you come to a really strong biblical teaching, biblical believing a spirit filled church like this one, and you kind of expect that the guy beside you maybe should be at some certain point, even though you may not be. And I'm sort of realizing that we all fight the good fight together, and it's just Christ who fixes our relationship with him first and then with each other second, because I'm kind of a goofball, as all of you know who know me, and I'm just trying now to expand my heart towards other people, because I can be a loner, do my thing. I know what I'm doing, get out of my way, sure. And what I am missing, and have been missing the whole time I've been at this church is replicating myself for sound and lights,
  
  Seth Weber 22:39
  which is practical and spiritual, yeah? Just
  
  Jeff Peterson 22:43
  so all of you listening are going to be ready. We're moving these lights, the lights will be moving. They'll be on and moving, yeah? Just, I'm excited for it, just for it, you know. And then I want to change a color temperature on a lead singer or a lead guitar player. I know. Even better, there's a once in every 12 year? Bass Solo never gonna happen. Jeff, I know the
  
  Seth Weber 23:06
  Sunday that it does happen, you'll have to run sound from the booth, so shine the light back at the booth. You'll be back there.
  
  Jeff Peterson 23:13
  Of everything I've ever done in my life, musically the most intense, completely draining thing I've ever done is run two Easter services from the back, of course, with the board playing the baseline with Wow, a headphone on one side so I could hear the mix, and the other ear open so I could hear both for the mix there, yeah, but the headphone so I wasn't playing behind, because 120 feet, yeah is played a few milliseconds, yeah. And so I'm playing ahead, but listening it was, I got done. I just drained, sweating from head to toe. I'm surprised
  
  Seth Weber 23:59
  you're still alive. How can faith, Bible, church, be praying for you right now.
  
  Jeff Peterson 24:05
  I really, really, really want to infect the people on my crew and my family. They still have. Half of our kids are still at home. Want to pour Christ into them as much as I can while they're still there. I haven't, honestly been very good at shepherding my staff here. We do have some people under me, as far as the like the sound, sound lights, that's kind of been on my heart lately, usually so busy doing stuff, until I was out of town here recently, for a long time, I did sound unless I was on stage. So so that's kind of what's on my heart. My mind, okay, really, to. A I mean, 63 I only have hearing in one ear now because I have a tumor, and I can't do this forever, and I don't want to be one of those terrible sound guys in 100% of churches.
  
  Seth Weber 25:17
  Ready for the speed round. I doubt it. You
  
  Seth Weber 25:27
  cats or dogs. No pineapple on pizza.
  
  Jeff Peterson 25:31
  Pineapple anywhere. Love the pineapple. Pets against my will. Favorite book, besides the Bible, 20,000 leagues under the sea. I read it when I was in fifth grade. I think, okay, and I handed it back to the librarian, and she said, Oh, let me tell you about this book written in the 1800s and the submarine is nuclear submarine, which, of course, they didn't even have plans for nuclear submarines. The deep sea diving stuff that they had is exactly what they use today, except they don't use a shell and the air spear that they use to shoot sharks underwater. They still use even today in 2025 it's the same design that he came up with. Wow. And I've read 1000s of books over COVID. I read 155 and I love reading it. And this because that lady just opened my mind to what's going on in books.
  
  Seth Weber 26:35
  Favorite band besides carpenters tools
  
  Jeff Peterson 26:38
  right now, Corey Wong and the on COVID. It's a fast big band,
  
  Seth Weber 26:43
  essentially favorite movie or TV show. Well, I've seen shooter about 115 times. Best surprise gift you've ever gotten. My
  
  Jeff Peterson 26:53
  first good bass guitar, 1981 I've been as a musician. What
  
  Seth Weber 27:00
  would you do with all the extra time if you didn't have to sleep? I probably read favorite place to eat out in Spokane, wherever
  
  Jeff Peterson 27:07
  my wife likes this.
  
  Seth Weber 27:10
  Well, Jeff Peterson is someone you should know. Thanks for joining us, Jeff. I don't
  
  Jeff Peterson 27:15
  know if anybody wants to know and all of you listening out there, I only know you by the back of your head. That's true. That's all I ever see. All these new people in church like that's a different head. I haven't seen that one before.
  
  Seth Weber 27:29
  Nice. All right, thanks, Jeff, you betcha.

Seth Weber

Seth is the Communications Director at Faith Bible Church and loves anything to do with design, video, audio and tech. He and his wife Kaitlyn have four children.

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