When I say that I am reflecting on the past, do not interpret that as thinking about retirement. I am still a ways off from that. But for some reason I have been thinking about my experience as a pastor.
I was hired by my first church, Queensway Baptist Church, as a youth pastor back in 1998 and it was there that I was ordained. I went from there to Mount Hamilton Baptist Church, my first full-time position as an associate pastor. When I left MHBC, I had no other church to go to. Little did I know that there was a search committee at the church the Sunday I gave my resignation.
Not long after, I was approached by Woodford Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Meaford to be their pastor. This would be my first time pastoring without having a senior pastor above me. That was my longest ministry, where I served for nine years.
Once again I left ministry without another church to go to. This time, I did not know if I would ever pastor again. I took about three years off of pastoral ministry, doing a number of other jobs.
I was surprised when I found myself interested in being a pastor again and I applied to Queen Street Baptist Church, a congregation in my hometown of St Catharines. I had a great ministry there that lasted six years.
To be honest, I was pretty content at QSBC and had no need to change churches. However, Amanda and I felt called to co-pastor and it would be easier to do that at a church where I had not already been the senior pastor. Plus, we felt drawn to the Maritimes, specifically Nova Scotia. Applying to a number of churches, we were hire as co-pastors of Brookfield Baptist Church and we are loving it.
Why do I bring this up?
I have talked to pastors who have been at a number of churches and are still waiting for their one good experience. I almost (but only almost) feel guilty because I really have not had a bad experience.
That doesn’t mean that there have been no challenges or no conflicts. But overall, I have only been to good churches and have felt supported and loved by those congregations. I could visit any of them and enjoy seeing people that I remember fondly.
I know this is not every pastor’s experience. There can be some pretty unhealthy situations in churches. But I have been blessed.
Brookfield Baptist Church, where we currently are, continues that tradition. I realize we have been here less than a year, but we have been supported through some difficult times already.
My good news is that I am thankful for all of the churches I have pastored at.
