CHURCH & DISCIPLESHIP
Helping people know Christ, grow in maturity and take their place in His Church.
I believe the local church should be much more than somewhere we attend on Sundays. It's a community of people learning to follow Jesus together, discovering the love of God, growing in spiritual maturity and encouraging one another to live out our faith in everyday life.
My calling to pastoral ministry has given me the privilege of walking alongside people at different stages of that journey. Some are exploring Christianity for the first time, others are rediscovering their relationship with God, while others are learning how to develop their gifts and serve more effectively.
Whatever stage we're at, I believe genuine discipleship begins with knowing Jesus and continues as we learn to become increasingly like Him.
My Approach to Pastoral Ministry
I serve as Senior Minister (Pastor) of Emmanuel Christian Centre, an evangelical church with charismatic influences in Ulverston, Cumbria.
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Pastoral ministry involves far more than preaching or overseeing church activities. It's about caring for people, teaching Scripture, providing spiritual guidance, developing disciples and helping a church family grow together through the complexities of life. An important part of my responsibility is providing spiritual leadership while working alongside others who bring different gifts, experience and responsibilities to the life of the church.
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I want to help develop a church where people experience God's love, are encouraged to grow in their faith and recognise that they each have something valuable to contribute. I also believe that healthy churches require responsible leadership, because good pastoral care, safeguarding, accountability, healthy relationships and appropriate boundaries are not in competition with love and grace.
"to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ..."
EPHESIANS 4:12
Discipleship Is About Becoming Like Jesus
One of the most important lessons I've learned is that Christian maturity involves considerably more than knowledge, ministry activity or spiritual experiences.
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These things may contribute to our growth, but the character of Jesus should increasingly be reflected in how we live, how we love others, how we handle disagreements and how we exercise responsibility.
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I believe discipleship involves developing our relationship with God through Scripture, prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. It involves learning how to put our faith into practice through our relationships, decisions and responsibilities.
Freedom in Christ is an important part of that journey. However, biblical freedom isn't simply independence or the absence of responsibility. It is freedom to love God, grow in maturity and serve others.
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As Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:13, we're called to use our freedom to serve one another through love.
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