Hello Everyone! Pastor Andrew here.
As the new Associate Pastor of Student Ministries - which is a lot to say, so feel free to call me the Youth Pastor - I cannot fully express how excited I am to get to work with the students here at Parkgate and the surrounding community. It is something I attribute wholly to God moving in and through my life. My family and I have felt incredibly blessed with this opportunity. Since I am new here, I am still learning the ropes of what being a Texan is all about, so please give me some grace as I work on incorporating "y'all" into my vocabulary, among other things.
I wanted to take the time to let you know what my ministry is all about. When it comes to the way that I do youth ministry, there are some key ideas that I want my students to understand. One of the most important is the idea that, as Christians, we need to own our faith. If students are only being spiritually fed by others - and cannot spiritually feed themselves - how can we expect them to carry on their faith when those who feed them are no longer around?
I do not simply wish for students to know what I believe or what my faith is all about. I want them to know what their faith is all about and what they believe. That means giving them an opportunity to dive into God's Word on their own, a space to discuss among themselves the things that we talk about on a weekly basis, and the chance to ask myself and our leaders tough questions about what the Bible has to say. As the saying goes "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime." I want our students to learn how to be fishers of men, so that they can be spiritually fed all their lives.
In order to make sure that students are owning their faith, I also seek to provide as much opportunity as I can to let them live out the teachings of Christ. Whether that is through mission trips to help those in need, community outreach events, small groups to develop close personal relationships, or otherwise, I strongly believe that students need these opportunities to live out what they have learned for their faith to flourish.
My ultimate hope is that God will use the student ministry at Parkgate to equip students to become the next wave of the body of Christ in the world, living out and teaching those around them what Christ's love is all about. In doing so, they will honor God in all that they do and truly experience the peace of God that transcends all understanding.
As a final note, my family and I would like to extend a tremendous thank you to everyone who has helped us out with the transition to Texas. From those of you who helped us move in, to those who have offered to watch Jane when needed, to those who have taken us out to eat, to all who have prayed for us: THANK YOU! You have helped make this move from Oregon feel less like a move away from our home and more like a move to the place we will happily call home for many years to come. God bless all of you.
I look forward to getting to know all of you in the months and years to come and look forward to seeing "y'all" on Sunday!
