As you may have heard from our AGM earlier this year, or through some editions of the Pastors’ Pen, we have been on the lookout for a Next Generation Pastor for the start of 2025 (once Cam, Jess and Eliza finish up their roles). It hasn’t been an easy task! [1] Since advertising the role in February with theological colleges and the denomination, by the middle of the year we had not received any enquiries. I was disheartened.
Then, before the start of the NSW General Assembly in Sydney, I was invited to attend the opening chapel service at SMBC as their new semester began (and where the role was included the student notices). No sooner had I left the lecture theatre than a beaming smile greeted me! “Hello, my name is Merhawi [2] and I’m in my final year of studies at SMBC, I was interested in talking with you about the role…”
Following a couple of meetings in person and on zoom with Ritchie and I, our NG25 team of Ritchie, Louise, Peita and I created an online form for Merhawi to complete. We also extended an opportunity for him (and his wife, Ami) to travel to Lismore for an interview and to meet members of our staff team, CoM exec., VCs and elders.
Let’s just say the visit didn’t really go to plan! No sooner had I greeted Merhawi and Ami, that I found myself hopping into an ambulance and off to the Lismore Base Hospital with my son who injured himself playing sport. I then found myself completely removed from the whole weekend plan. I was meant to host Ami and Merhawi, but staff pivoted and extended a kind welcome to host them. I was unable to be part of the interview, but it still went ahead. Breakfasts, dinners and lunches all went ahead without me. I expected to be their local tour guide, but they were excellently guided and cared for by our elders and staff team. Thank you team!
The denomination role Merhawi was applying for was previously called a ‘private appointment’, [3] the position is now called a ‘pastoral assistant’ and requires endorsement by a local session (Leadership Team) and pending the applicant’s level of theological training, they must also be endorsed by the local Presbytery. If they have completed a theological degree, they will not report to the local church (Southern Cross), but rather they will need to report to the local Presbytery. So, because Merhawi has completed a Bachelor of Theology, he will need to be endorsed by Leadership Team and the Northern Rivers Presbytery.
Last Wednesday, LT endorsed Merhawi for the position. As I write this, his name has been put forward to the Northern Rivers Presbytery as an electronic motion (the Presbytery doesn’t meet again in person until October). We now await their vote to see if they endorse him for the role at Southern Cross.
The final requirement by the denomination for the role is financial endorsement by the local church. Thus, CoM will look to move a recommendation on the 11th of September at its next meeting. However, we will wait until we move into budget season early next term before officially calling a congregational meeting. The draft budget will be presented at our CoM meeting on the 6th of November and from there a decision will be made regarding a date for the congregational meeting.
Obviously, Merhawi and Ami are now keen to meet more members of SCPC and we are excited for you to meet them too. They now move into a heavy period of tuition, essays and exams, but are looking to return to visit the Northern Rivers again (with their two young boys) in November [4].
As LT, CoM and staff would know, the first half of the year was a difficult one, as we sought someone for this role with no real leads to move upon. But what has now become a bit of an ‘anthem’ for our staff team this year is this line from a Christian song: “In some way or another, the Lord will provide”. This song meditates upon the Lord’s provision to Abraham with the ram caught in a thicket in the most unexpected circumstances (from Genesis 22 below).
I don’t know about you, but it seems so often that God loves to meet our needs in seasons of despair, when we are desperate and disheartened. At times like these, we are taught to rest in his sovereign, gracious and providential care.
SP
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:13-14
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[1] You can contact office@scpc.org.au if you are interested in a background paper written for LT and CoM.
[2] Merhawi immigrated to Brisbane in 1998 from Eritrea in Eastern Africa.
[3] As Merhawi is not an ordained Presbyterian minister, he does not have to go through the formal ‘call’ process of the denomination.
[4] A ‘Meet Merhawi’ document will be available for you to read near the start of Term 4.
