Our pastor
I am a retired Minister in the PCANZ and am living with my lovely wife, Evonne, in Te Awamutu. We moved here from Papakura in December last year. I have many hobbies from woodworking to shooting clay target shooting and Evonne enjoys all sorts of handcrafts as well as swimming, walking and cycling when we both get a chance. We have two adult children; one also in Te Awamutu along with her husband and their two children, as well as a son and his wife in Dunedin.
In my work life, I have been a labourer at Winstones (for a few months), a survey draughtsman, a teacher in both the primary and secondary school sectors and a Minister. Interspersed amongst these was my attending the University of Waikato and the University of Otago gaining my Bachelor of Education then my postgrad, Bachelor of Divinity.
During my time as a Minister (pre-retirement😊), I spent about 8½ years at a Presbyterian Parish in Tapanui, West Otago followed by about 18½ years as the Senior Minister of First Church, Papakura.
I, and my wife, both came to faith in the early eighties, although I had been brought up in a loving Christian home. It was in the time of the Charismatic Renewal movement in NZ and it was a most special time. I am an evangelical in line with the historic Christian faith in theology and I believe that every human being needs to make their own decision to follow Jesus. In fact that is the central aspect of my heart of faith; that the greatest goal of any human being is to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and to commit all their lives into the service of His Kingdom. I am what I call, warmly charismatic, in that I am charismatic in the acceptance of the working of the Holy Spirit, but not in a way to cause offence to those who have a different style. I do not believe that either position is more right or wrong; there are in fact a multitude of ways for every one of us to express our natural praise and worship of God with integrity and passion. (see 1 Corinthians 12:3 and Romans 10:9-10)
My passion has always been to preach the Word of God in a way that is thorough, to the best of my ability and understanding, yet always ‘real’ so that hearts and lives are challenged, quickened and inspired along our mutual walks of faith. There is nothing more special to me than to see a person’s life changed by their acceptance of Jesus into their lives!
