About Me

I’m fortunate to be a pastor’s kid who spent my childhood living in places such as Fiji, Tassie, Bundy, the Goldy, North Queensland and Sydney. I followed in both my dad and granddad’s footsteps by entering paid pastoral work in 2000 and have also spent a decent part of this time as a youth pastor and school chaplain. My time working in churches of different varieties has seen me working with a number of great mentors. I’ve gobbled up opportunities to travel abroad and mix with many fantastic people from whom I’ve learnt a lot.

At the end of 2007 I requested a year study leave from my posting in Melbourne to pursue full-time study. I moved to QLD to be near family (my mum’s recovering from breast cancer) and my girl and have been studying teaching via distance through Avondale. The college has given me some casual work in marketing and I worked the first few months of this year as a photographer. I’ve been thinking and praying for some time how I could best use what God has blessed me with to further His cause. It has become a lot clearer for me this year that I’m meant to invest some time and energy into helping connect the disconnected.  Whilst I do this I will probably relief teach a few days a week in order to stay financially afloat. (If I could be employed as a pastor to do this kind of work that’d be great, but reality and experience tells me that most pastors oversee established churches.)

UPDATE – October 09

After graduating with a Bachelor of Teaching in Dec ’08 I’ve been working as a relief teacher (mostly at Northpine Christian College) a few days a week since Feb this year. The majority of my time is spent as a volunteer, helping coordinate Submerge::Intro and acting as a kind of pastor to those without a pastor/church particularly whilst following up the requests for connection from people who responded to the ‘disconnected church’ survey. I’m still at home with the folks and it’s time to move – but haven’t decided where to from here. I’ve got the unsettled feeling that comes at this time of year (normal for a Pr’s kid and pastor I guess) perhaps because of the need to find a job or sponsorship that would allow me to pursue ministry to the disconnected full-time. This ministry is overwhelming and confusing at times, but God is my source of courage and strength! He is still leading, still loving, still challenging and still calling his lost sheep to come back to the fold. With my life and ministry in His hands, and a growing number of people realising they are needed to join this ministry, it will be intriguing to see where God leads from here.

UPDATE – October 2010

2010 has seen God bless me with a beautiful wife and a relocation to the Sunshine Coast. Some things have remained unchanged – I’m still on the constant hunt for relief teaching, usually finding 2-3 days a week, but have discovered it’s well below the average wage once holiday work (or lack thereof) is factored in! 25-40yr olds – particularly those disconnected from God and/or church – are still the demographic God has called me to minister to, be it slow at times. I’m glad for the time spent the last (almost) 3 years learning from these friends – I hope I’ve become more understanding, tolerant and focused – and that some people have taken God, His Word, and the journey of them and their friends – seriously.

I’ve been seeking full-time employment options for 2011 and beyond the past couple of months. Pastoral jobs are looking unlikely, with prospective employers revealing that no jobs really exist within (or near) my areas of interest. I get the distinct impression that if I had baptised 50+ people since taking leave from pastoring in 2008, that job prospects would dramatically increase. It appears that ministry to those not in church – or more importantly/holistically – discipleship, still doesn’t have the focus Jesus said it should. So, whilst I look to other employment options (travel guide?…politician?…taste tester?) I will do my best to seek Him, wait on Him, and believe that the best is yet to come.

UPDATE – May 2011

God has provided work for me in Sydney as Employment Promotions Officer for Adventist Employment. This certainly wasn’t the plan but I believe it’s where God has led (he sure has a sense of humour, as I’ve been struggling to find work the past 3 years and now my job is to connect people with church-related employment!). Working at the SPD office is also a trip but a great learning experience. Being in this part of Aus will give me a chance to reignite and regroup a Submerge team and connect with old school and uni friends. The journey continues…

UPDATE – April 2016

So after 6 years break from paid pastoral ministry I’ve returned and have been working at Fox Valley SDA Community Church in Sydney since January 2014. It’s a vibrant church with friendly people, a large youth group and many visitors passing through the doors. The building where we’re based is a community centre which gives great opportunities to engage and share with our neighbourhood. I’m fortunate to have this chance to lead/serve, AND to live a few hundred meters up the road. Oh – and I’ve got 2 little tackas in tow now – one is 3, one is 1 🙂