Calling to Ministry
Published: 16 July 2023
Context: An excerpt from a personal journal of my experiences of God.
Every now and then, my parents like to tell me about how, when I was quite young, I wanted to be a ‘singing pastor’. Apparently a friend’s mum still remembers this and recently [in 2021 - when I originally wrote this] brought it up with my parents as a thing which was, to their mind, of some significance. Despite this, by the time I was in high school I wanted to be a musician, not a pastor.
You may also recall that on the night of my second spiritual experience in 2011 I said to God, ‘I don’t want to be a pastor!’
I had no intention of becoming a pastor. I had no desire to enter ministry.
Nevertheless, a week or so after this pair of spiritual experiences I was telling someone who was familiar with the Spirit what had happened, and they suggested that I go check out a place in North Perth called the York St Silo. The Silo provided free biblical teaching, and it was primarily run by a man called David Boan. I ended up studying Biblical Greek under David for two or so years, and was also part of a group where we read through the Old Testament in chronological order.
At some point through this process I had this sense that I was called to a teaching ministry within the church. However, while I do remember experiencing what I suspect was “The Joy of the Lord” after (a sometimes gruelling two hours of) Greek each week, I don’t recall any particular event or experience that sparked my sense of calling to a teaching ministry. I don’t even remember if it was was a sense that emerged gradually or if it was just suddenly there.
That said, I’ve since had various people from a variety of contexts confirm my teaching gift, so I’m not concerned about whether or not I had an initial experience to attach this calling to. By way of example, the following journal entry refers to an early instance of this teaching gift being confirmed. I wrote it after I preached for the first time (at The Cong):
Mar/Apr 2014
“I taught at evening service for the first time. A number of people said that they thought I had a gifting. I believe I do.“