Emerging Pastor

... more shall be given.

In some breaking news, tonight I was voted on by the church to take up the role of an Elder in our church.

For the past year I've been serving with the Eldership as an "Elder in training". It's basically a traineeship where you do everything an Elder is supposed to do and learn about how to operate in this important area of ministry.

The Eldership at our church is particularly important at the moment because we don't have a Senior Pastor leading the church. It takes on quite a lot of the pastoral responsibilities for the church.

So tonight they voted and tonight I was voted in. It's quite exciting really! To me it says that a bunch of people trust in me to say, I can allow him to listen to what God has to say for this church and lead us in that direction. Quite humbling actually.

I alluded in the title to a piece of Scripture known fairly commonly as the parable of the Talents (Talents being an ancient unit of currency). In the parable Jesus talks about being responsible with whatever God has given us and when we show ourselves to be trustworthy, more will be given to us.

While it's a story about how we live this life and our reward in the next, I also take it as a principle for our lives in the here and now. That when God gives us a certain measure of responibility we will not have any more until we can be proven to be trustworthy with it. Becoming a part of the Eldership in full is for me a confirmation of my spiritual growth and that God is involved and has concern for my life.

Today marks a change in my status in ministry. Up to this point I've been working at my local church placement in a purely volenteer capacity. It's a requirement of my ACOM degree to perform 40 hours of ministry per subject. But today I signed my first work contract into a paid pastoral position!

I'm working part time for 4 hours a week, I know it doesn't sound like much but that is in addition to all the other ministry tasks I undertake.

So now I am officially the Pastor to Small Groups at Penrith Church of Christ.

It's a bit of a change in focus from what I have been doing which was focusing on developing the Young Adult population but when you being paid you go to where the need is :)

I have a real passion for small groups. I’m not just saying that because of the role, I believe small groups have the power to transform churches from places where people gather infrequently to places of real community. I believe that those who lead small groups have a special spiritual role, they have taken up the challenge to Shepard a group of God’s people and have taken responsibility for helping to grow their relationships with God and each other.

The reason I have a passion for small groups is because a small group changed my life! When I first started attending the church at Penrith, nearly 10 years ago, a pastor there created a small group and invited me along. In that place I made friends, learnt from Gods word, and for the first time in a very long time felt safe. Without that small group holding me up and showing me Jesus, I can’t honestly say that I would have come to know Christ.