Not what I expected!

I've never really thought of myself as a church planter. To be honest that's been a bit of a pattern in my life. In truth I wanted to be an academic. In fact, I was for a few years. I did a doctorate, published some papers and did a little lecturing. It was fun - mostly - and it suited me in lots of ways. But then one thing led to another and I decided to leave academia, work for a church with students in London and start training for ministry. I didn't expect or plan to do that really. It might have been better in lots of ways if I had, but...

Even then, I presumed that God would place me in a context to work with academic people - a university town with a church containing lots of university students perhaps. I was identified by the Church of England as a 'potential theological educator,' so perhaps I would end up doing that kind of academic thing. However, having trained for ministry, I served as a curate for four years in Blackburn - an ex-mill town in the north west of England. It was a great experience with lots of great people, but not really what I expected. It was normal church ministry.

After that, I came to be a vicar in Rochdale. Another economically struggling northern ex-mill town - it didn't even have a Premiership football team (although to be fair neither did Blackburn by the time I left)! To be fair it was a pretty tough job for a lot of reasons. Not what I would have expected for my life. Maybe not even what I really wanted. And then I began to realize that I needed to leave the Church of England - after over 10 years of ministry and 3 years of training. After having been baptized, confirmed and growing up in the Church of England. After serving in Church of England churches and Church of England schools. By conscience, conviction and experience, I knew I had to go. I just didn't expect it.

I left not knowing the future. Maybe I needed to retrain - as a teacher perhaps. I'd looked into church planting, but it hadn't worked out. I wasn't really sure I was a church planter. I think you need to be a bit more alpha male than me. Don't you need to be a bit slicker than me, more self-confident, good at working the room, well-connected, a visionary, a fund-raiser, a missionary, an evangelist, a leader of people, a trail blazer. Probably not someone like me anyway.

So I ended up planting a church. Again, not really what I'd expected. Not me really of course, it's a team thing and a God-thing - that much has become abundantly clear! But I'm the pastor/planter of a new church. Well we're only kind of a church as yet, but we've only being going a few months, and the pastor isn't really cut out to be a planter, so you'll have to give us a break!

We came up with a plan of course for how we'd do that plant. That was in the early months of 2020. Then there was this pandemic thing. I wasn't really expecting that either. Somehow we planted anyway.

I don't know if it will last. I think most churches feel pretty fragile these days and church plants all the more so. But here we are. Not really where I expected. Not really where I'd planned to be.

I don't want to argue that we shouldn't plan. Nor that we shouldn't seek to use our gifts in the best ways possible. I think I'm just learning that I'm not in control, that I don't know the future, that I don't know what to expect. We need a humility before our God. I think I'd also want to say that it might be that you can serve in ways that you never expected or thought you could. If God is God and he is with you then, well all sorts of things are possible...