I grew up attending St. James Anglican Church, Merritton (as section of St. Catharines). I attended this church from birth to around 1992 (with a few years off while I was an atheist). The ministers I remember from there include James Patterson, Jim Powell, Brian Collinson and David Hamilton (I was baptized as a baby by Peter Smith but I do not remember that!). Even as a young person I was give opportunities to serve including the roles of server, sidesman, reader and chalice bearer. It was while I was attending St. James (although not directly because of it) that I came to a personal faith in Christ.
It was a major jump for me to go from St. James to Central Gospel Temple, a Pentecostal church in St. Catharines. At the time I thought I was going to become a Baptist and was surprised to find myself a Pentecostal. I attended CGT from approximately 1992 to 1996. The senior pastor at the time was Mel Jenkins but I was alos significantly influenced by David Topping and Tony Sardella. I was baptized as a believer at CGT. I quickly found myself involved in ministry, including roles as a cell group leader and a youth leader. It was during this time that I felt the call to pastoral ministry and enrolled myself at McMaster Divinity College. It was also at Central that I met my wife Amanda and it was there that we were married in 2000.
As I began at Mac, I needed to find a church to do a placement at for my field education. From 1996 to 1998 I served at Niagara Christian Life Assembly in Niagara Falls as youth pastor. This was, like Central, a church affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. This was my first pastoral position and my first opportunity to preach at a Sunday service. The senior pastor was Dale Hiebert and later on we had an associate pastor with Noral Woodburn. I was blessed with the opportunity to lead a youth group of both Pentecostal and Salvation Army teens. I definitely learned a lot.
After a couple of months back at Central, I was asked by one of my professors at Mac to apply for the youth pastor position at Queensway Baptist Church in Brantford. Don Fraser was also the senior pastor at Queensway and I thought it would not hurt to try. I was amazed when I found out that I was hired and that I would actually get paid to be a pastor! From 1998 to 2001 I served as the youth pastor. It was a great experience as I got even more opportunities to preach and try out new things. Don Fraser was a great pastor to work with, as was the associate pastor Carol Caswell. After Don retired, I was able to help out with interim ministry. The day after Amanda and I were married, the new pastor Ralph Neil started. Both Don Fraser and Ralph Neil were very influential in my ministry and I continue to respect them very much. It was at Queensway that I was ordained with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec.
After being ordained at Queensway, I began as associate pastor at Mount Hamilton Baptist Church in Hamilton. I served here from 2001 to 2003. I worked with senior pastor Joyce Trask and associate pastors Craig Traynor and Scott Dunham. This was my first opportunity to preach every weak and to be involved in ministry outside of youth work. This was a stretching ministry in a good way as I was able to experiment with new ways of preaching and to grow creatively. It is exciting to see many of the people from this congregation now in pastoral ministry.
Since 2003 I have been the pastor of Woodford Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Meaford. We have very much enjoyed our time here and are even more excited about ministry than when we first arrived five years ago. Both congregations are very supportive and have a hunger for God. They seek to reach out to their communities. Both are loving churches that have spiritual power beyond the size of their congregations. I look forward to what God will do in and through us in the coming years.
All of these local churches have been important to me and have helped to shape me as a Christian and as a pastor. I thank God for each of the congregations and pastors that have encouraged me throughout the years.
1 comments:
Wow, it's been six years since you left? Where has the time gone??
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