this week @carey
13 August 2012
TUESDAY AT CAREY
WEDNESDAY PRAYER
Chapel: Facilitated by Naomi Compton
Speaker: Phil Halstead
When the bell rings on Wednesdays at
12.40pm come to the Chapel and join with
Carey Staff as we pray together for our
country. We would love to have you join us!
THIS WEEK
Facilitator: Charles Hewlett
Focus: The New Zealand Church
Interview: Mark Powell is the CEO of The
Warehouse, and a recent pastoral
leadership graduate from Carey! Originally
from Wales, Mark is married with two
daughters. He has held a number of
management roles in the UK, Canada and
Spain, including responsibility for Wal-Mart
Canada’s logistics operations. Mark has a
Master’s degrees in Logistics (from
Cranfield) and Business (an MBA with
distinction, from Cardiff). He has also
attended strategic leadership courses at
Harvard and INSEAD. In his spare time Mark
is part of the leadership team at
Whangaparaoa Baptist Church.
e-books
GET SOMEONE TO OUR OPEN DAY
We are deeply committed to our ministry
training programmes and we believe that
current students often recognise a sense of
call to ministry in other people lives. So
please encourage someone at your church,
or in your family or friends, or just some
random on the street to come along to our
next open day on Tuesday August 14th.
The library is celebrating the acquisition of 100 e-books
this week!
We started off with just three e-books, 2 ½ years ago.
It is amazing how popular and well used the collection
has become, not only among distance students but onsite
students as well. The total usage from January 2012-July
2012 is 1362.
The most popular title is:
Journey into God’s Word (343 logins)
Second popular title:
Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance (101 logins)
If you are onsite, come to the library. You will get a free
gift.
Distance students - if you request books this week, your
gift will be in the mail!
From Charles
Feeling ‘Called’?
Is God calling you to ministry or mission? How might you know? As I
reflect on my 8 years of training pastoral leaders, there would be four
things I mostly hear from people who are adamant about God’s ‘call’:
It is ‘irresistible’
There is nothing else they would rather be doing. Nothing else makes sense to them. They
want to get out of bed each day and be involved in the spiritual leadership of others.
They are already ‘doing it’
Very few people that I speak to just decide, “I’m going to be a pastoral leader.” Most are
already doing it – running a small group, preaching sermons, leading a team, being
missional, and so on. People with a strong sense of ‘call’ are often pastoring before they
are a pastor.
It is confirmed by ‘wise people’
‘Called’ people will have their vocation endorsed by the wise people around them – maybe
a previous boss, an elder in the church, someone with lots of life experience, perhaps a
denominational leader. They have taken the time to ask the one or two they trust the
most, “Am I hearing clearly here?
If married, it makes sense to the ‘spouse’
This one often amazes me. I wish I had kept a record of the number of spouses who had
recognised the sense of call for their partner – way before they had started discussing it
together as a couple.
The ‘supernatural’
It’s interesting - not many talk of receiving a special verse, having a dream, or hearing a
prophetic word. I am not suggesting that God doesn’t speak through the extraordinary –
he did with me! I clearly remember sitting in my office, working away, when there was a
knock on my door. In walked a senior man whom I knew and respected. He had no idea of
the Principalship discussions that were going on and the decision that was before me that
very week. Remaining standing, he closed the door, and proceeded to open his Bible. “I
have a verse for you,” he announced. And he started reading from Isaiah 42, “I, the LORD,
have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand…” Without comment he
gently closed his Bible and walked out of my office. Although many would love to have this
extraordinary experience, most often the ‘call’ seems to come in the midst of doing hard
work, and listening to the wisdom of others.
Is God calling you to ministry and mission? Perhaps there is a training option you need to
add to your studies? Why not talk more to a Carey staff member – John Tucker (pastoral
leadership), Brian Krum (youth pastoral leadership), George Wieland (mission), or Andrew
Picard (child and family). Or contact me – I would love to talk more!
Got a notice? Email sam.kilpatrick@carey.ac.nz