Sunday, July 18, 2010

new minister for Opawa Baptist

The church I used to pastor, Opawa Baptist has called a new minister and over the weekend, the Petrini family (Rob, Monique, Isabella, Alex and Jessica) were welcomed and Rob inducted as Senior Pastor.

Rob is Australian, while Monique is Mexican. The family have been located in USA, where Rob has been involved in a number of pastoral ministry roles. Rob brings a heart for discipling the first 3rd of life, worship and apologetics. The search committee chose to advertise the role internationally. (I thought they were nuts!) The downside was having to wade through over 100 applications! the upside was what could be a really interesting cross-cultural combination.

We wish to Petrini’s and Opawa all the best in their next stage of the journey. Part of the Taylor family sense of call was a very strong request to trust God – that the God who gave us such good friends and church family in New Zealand would be able to do that also for Opawa, as they looked for the next piece of their pastoral team.

For those interested, below are the greetings that we sent, first as Opawa considering calling a new senior pastor, and second for the commissioning …

Calling greeting

Our prayers and thoughts are with you as you meet as a church to call a new pastor.

The last months have involved God calling Opawa to a fresh sense of trust, for us as a Taylor family, for you as an Opawa church family and for the Opawa church leadership, including the call committee.

It takes a lot of work and a fair bit of courage to be part of a call committee. So I thank God for them and for the wider church body, who have been invited to prayer and patience.

May God grant you clarity and honesty as you gather. May Gods’ plans for Opawa, which are always so much bigger than human ideas and dreams, be made known,

Commissioning greeting:

Here is a greeting from the Taylor Whanau for the induction on Saturday night.
We enjoyed working on it together over dinner.

Rob, Monica,  Isabella, Alex and Jessica…
We hope you have as much fun at Opawa Baptist as we did
and that you make as many good friends as we did at Opawa.

We hope you each find a special place,
which is unique to your God-gifted fingerprints,
where you’ll find joy in serving the Opawa Baptist community.

We hope you’ll have as much fun with the little kids, and big kids, as we did.

We pray that Opawa won’t compare you with us, for better or worse,
… that the Opawa people will remember us with fondness
while recognising and enjoying the unique gift that the Petrinis are for Opawa in this new season.

We pray that the Petrinis will quickly find themselves to be at home in New Zealand, in Christchurch, and at Opawa Baptist Church; with friends both inside and outside the church.

We pray that Opawa will continue to grow, deepen, and diversify
and to be courageous, creative and outward looking.
That the Bible will continue to be honoured
and that the Spirit will continue to invite you as a church and as individuals to transformation.

Steve, Lynne, Shannon and Kayli Taylor

Posted by steve at 05:48 PM

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