Jump off the Edge

The floor of my apartment here in downtown Hamilton, ON is currently littered with apple boxes. Some of the furniture is out of place and a big roll of bubble wrap is sitting tantalizingly on the other couch. Such is the typical ambiance of the first stages of moving. When I carted my belongings up the stairs of this dilapidated building a year ago, I expected to stay here much longer than twelve months, but life and graduating university have a way of messing up your best laid plans and next week, I am off to small town, prairie Alberta to begin my new job as the Associate Pastor of Chauvin Gospel Centre (CGC) in Chauvin, AB.

I was asked by some of the lovely people I met at St. John's Presbyterian Church (where I've been preaching this past summer,) if I would be keeping a blog of this latest adventure and I figured it's a good idea, since blogging is awesome to begin with and writing is therapeutic.

The two-month long process of securing this position in AB began at the end of June. I'd been out of school for a couple months, gone on a few adventures and was becoming disheartened at the prospect of finding a job in ministry, as job posting after job posting on the PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) website showed me that I did not have the qualifications necessary for what I was hoping for. I closed my laptop in a moment of frustration and mindlessly walked down bustling Main St. to the No Frills for some groceries. They had most of what was on my list, except for milk. What grocery store runs out of 1%? Not a pressing matter, I waited until the next day to take the bus up the mountain to the Walmart. If they didn't have my milk, something would be seriously wrong.

After paying for my precious purchase, I waited at the bus stop for the 27 to take me back downtown. The sun was shining on a warm, summer day and I closed my eyes and lifted my face towards the warmth. Although my body was content and my soul fully trusting in the plans of God for my life, my mind caused my heart rate to jog as I thought of how I needed a job. As I opened my eyes to look for the bus, I saw two people walking towards me, a man and a woman. They were typical, grungy Hamiltonians and I avoided eye contact as they walked by. Much to my chagrin, the man stopped in front of me. My first thought was, "He's going to ask for money," but I was surprised when, instead, he said, "I just wanted to tell you that there are good blessings coming your way." And he walked off. I sat stunned for a moment. God, please may this be a sign from You!

The next day, I found the job posting for an Associate Pastor in Chauvin, AB and sent in my resume, praying over the email before I sent it off. Not four hours later, I received a voicemail from the pastor asking for an interview. A few phone conversations later and I was on a plane off to visit the prairies. A few meetings later and I was officially offered the job. A couple weeks and many, many tears and prayers later and I accepted the position. A couple weeks and a congregational vote later and I'm officially headed out to redneck, hick-ville, eastside Alberta in a week's time. I'd been asked what percentage of the vote I'd require in order to commit to going. I asked God, in faith, for a much higher percentage than I thought I'd get. He gave me 5% more than I'd hoped.

CGC caught my attention because of their vision statement. They want to be an all in, do or die, jump off the edge, bash on regardless kind of church. In this post-modern, Westernized world, it is truly something special to see a church chase after God like that. If God's called me to uproot, leave my beloved city and incredibly dear people to live in the absolute last culture I'd ever expect to find myself, then I'm ready to jump off the edge and trust that His wings will be my parachute on the way down.