A Fruitful Choice

Most of you will know that the church recently voted unanimously to appoint Dan Steel as Assistant pastor. I am very excited about his appointment and looking forward to the arrival of the whole Steel Family.

As we considered the candidates for the post we looked at a few passages of scripture but one which meditated on was Acts 16:1-5.

Acts 16:1–5

[Paul] came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they travelled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul's appointment of young Timothy bore much long term fruit. It is interesting to note the factors that influenced his choice.

The opinion of others. Luke tells us that "the brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him". No-one should be appointed to a senior position in the church without evidence of their suitability in terms of gift, character and doctrine. Dan comes to us with strong recommendations both from his current church - Grace Church in Birmingham - and also from City Church in Birmingham, where Dan originally served as a student worker.
Particular gifts and circumstance. Timothy had a Jewish mother and Greek father. His godly Jewish background (2 Tim 1:5, 3:15) meant that he was well versed in Scripture, whilst his Greek ancestry enabled him to more naturally relate to the wider world of the Roman Empire. We considered Dan's particular gifts and passions quite closely and felt that there was a very strong fit with our felt needs. In particular his passion to help Christian families and his strong leadership and administrative gifts we feel will be well used in the life of the church.
"Chemistry". Luke simply tells us that "Paul wanted to take him along on the journey." Often neither the good opinion of others, nor externally verifiable gift is quite enough to make a decision. There has to be a sense of "fit." It is at this stage in particular that the guidance of the Spirit becomes most decisive. We felt as we spoke to Dan, and as we saw him interacting with the church that there was a strong sense of that elusive chemistry.

I am praying that over the next few years we will be greatly "strengthened in faith" and that the number of people who we reach and disciple will grow, if not "daily" then at least regularly.

In order for Dan to start well both the elders and the Steels would really like to be able to start in June. In order to be able to do that though, the finance team have indicated that we need to be pledge about £500 per month more as a church. We are acutely aware that this is a financially difficult time for many, and that a proportion of us are already giving sacrificially. However we are also conscious that a significant number of people have arrived relatively recently but have not yet committed to regularly giving to the church. If you have not yet started giving regularly, but are committed to Magdalen Road Church, then we would ask you to consider this and to send an email to Andrew Sadler as soon as possible indicating how your giving might increase. A final decision about start date will be made in early March, so it would be good to get all pledges in by the end of February.

If the church cannot pledge sufficient extra giving, then Dan will start on 1st September. However a start in June will allow Dan to be up and running for the Autumn which is likely to greatly increase his fruitfulness in the first year.

As we look forward to Dan's arrival I sense a new phase in the life of the church. The Lord has greatly blessed us over the last decade or so, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to this next era.

Peter Comont, 10/02/2011