I came to faith as a 17-year-old sometime around midnight on the back field of Waimea College on a very cold night in July (if geography is important to you, not far from the cricket nets near the end of the tennis courts!). Encountering God that night was the most influential and best thing that has ever happened to me.
Having begun my journey with God, I soon found myself being discipled and having ministry opportunities in the Open Brethren world, mainly because at the time I met Jesus I liked a girl who was going to the local bretho church. I married her cousin.
Melanie and I have been married since 1997, producing three boys along the way, as well as accumulating a daughter-in-law and grandson. Mel is part of the office team at Richmond School, Zak and Kendal and baby Ezra are dairy farming near Lockerbie in Scotland, Xavier is a tradie in Christchurch, and our youngest, Reuben, is about to start a degree in Industrial Design in Wellington. The nest is emptying.
I worked at Hope Community Church for 15 years, mainly working with children, youth, and families, before a stint working in youth mental health with a local NGO. I then stumbled into the Anglican world, when I thought, “mmm…” after hearing that our local vicar was moving on. This led to an enjoyable and rewarding six years leading Waimea Parish and being part of the Nelson Anglican whānau.
In my spare time I like playing and watching sport, enjoying God’s creation in nature, and mentoring men. And having recently gone through “creative-hobby-envy” with my very creative and active-relaxer wife, I’m currently having a crack at writing a children’s novel.
God has given me a heart for mission – for the lost, the last, and the least. Jason Shaw and I got to know each other well via a Kākano Huddle, where I would often hear about the work he was doing in the local community – connecting community needs with parish and dio ministries and resources, and encouraging the work of our hard-working ministry leaders in the social services space. This work very much resonated with me, so it was a bit of no-brainer to apply for his role when he resigned to go on a three-year honeymoon in the pacific islands. I was stoked to be offered the role.
Years ago, I went to a conference at what was then Spreydon Baptist Church, where they articulated God’s kingdom agenda as follows:
This vision inspires me.
It’s early days, so still finding my feet, but if some of the following things happen over the next few years, that’d be quite nice:
Result: In small ways (and maybe big ways), something of God’s kingdom comes and some of God’s will is done across the diocese as it is in heaven.
In these first months, I’ll be wanting to chat to vicars as well as social service ministry leaders to find out what’s happening in their space and how I can support them.
And if anyone has a kingdom-dream lurking in the God-given creative spaces of their souls, get in touch.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
I came to faith as a 17-year-old sometime around midnight on the back field of Waimea College on a very cold night in July (if geography is important to you, not far from the cricket nets near the end of the tennis courts!). Encountering God that night was the most influential and best thing that has ever happened to me.
Having begun my journey with God, I soon found myself being discipled and having ministry opportunities in the Open Brethren world, mainly because at the time I met Jesus I liked a girl who was going to the local bretho church. I married her cousin.
Melanie and I have been married since 1997, producing three boys along the way, as well as accumulating a daughter-in-law and grandson. Mel is part of the office team at Richmond School, Zak and Kendal and baby Ezra are dairy farming near Lockerbie in Scotland, Xavier is a tradie in Christchurch, and our youngest, Reuben, is about to start a degree in Industrial Design in Wellington. The nest is emptying.
I worked at Hope Community Church for 15 years, mainly working with children, youth, and families, before a stint working in youth mental health with a local NGO. I then stumbled into the Anglican world, when I thought, “mmm…” after hearing that our local vicar was moving on. This led to an enjoyable and rewarding six years leading Waimea Parish and being part of the Nelson Anglican whānau.
In my spare time I like playing and watching sport, enjoying God’s creation in nature, and mentoring men. And having recently gone through “creative-hobby-envy” with my very creative and active-relaxer wife, I’m currently having a crack at writing a children’s novel.
God has given me a heart for mission – for the lost, the last, and the least. Jason Shaw and I got to know each other well via a Kākano Huddle, where I would often hear about the work he was doing in the local community – connecting community needs with parish and dio ministries and resources, and encouraging the work of our hard-working ministry leaders in the social services space. This work very much resonated with me, so it was a bit of no-brainer to apply for his role when he resigned to go on a three-year honeymoon in the pacific islands. I was stoked to be offered the role.
Years ago, I went to a conference at what was then Spreydon Baptist Church, where they articulated God’s kingdom agenda as follows:
This vision inspires me.
It’s early days, so still finding my feet, but if some of the following things happen over the next few years, that’d be quite nice:
Result: In small ways (and maybe big ways), something of God’s kingdom comes and some of God’s will is done across the diocese as it is in heaven.
In these first months, I’ll be wanting to chat to vicars as well as social service ministry leaders to find out what’s happening in their space and how I can support them.
And if anyone has a kingdom-dream lurking in the God-given creative spaces of their souls, get in touch.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
