Ministry Update
Advent 2023
Dear friends,
Many of you have asked what is next for me in life and ministry, so I thought I’d put the word out.
thank you, Cornerstone!
As some of you may already know, I will be departing in thanks from Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in 2024. What a blessing it has been to begin ministry here! I was invited first as a pastoral apprentice back in 2019, then ordained here in 2021, and I continued for a few years as Assistant Pastor of Outreach & Christian Education. Now, however, the time has come for a new position at Cornerstone (Family & Youth Ministry), requiring different gifts than mine, and for me to continue ministry beyond Cornerstone. I support and honor the church as it builds towards this future, with much gratitude for our time together and many hopes to stay in touch going forward!
As I think back on these years, I thank God for how he has formed me for service through the work at Cornerstone. I am learning, slowly but surely, what it means to share my very life as well as the gospel, and how to serve his church vocationally. Most of all, God has my gratitude for the great friends I have made among the congregation as well as its leaders and staff, brothers and sisters who bless and honor me constantly with their fellowship, kindness, and love. Cornerstone is a special place and special always to me and my family. May God continue to strengthen the saints there to be renewed in his gospel to love and serve for years to come.
Church-Planting Apprenticeship with Grace and Peace
I am excited to say I have been approved to begin raising support for new ministry work. It is a Church-Planting Apprenticeship with Grace and Peace Oconomowoc in preparation for future church-planting ministry!
The benefits are myriad from my perspective:
- Serve with real-life church planter Pastor Ben Sinnard as mentor (what a guy!)
- Develop skills and gain experience in a real-life church plant (Grace and Peace Oconomowoc)
- Move to a real-life church plant prospect (Watertown, WI) to put said skills and experience into practice
- Stay in Southeastern WI, hopefully forever (the phrase over my cold, dead body comes to mind)
For me, this is a huge step towards church-planting ministry, which has been my long-term goal since seminary. It’s an opportunity to carry forward the ministry development begun at Cornerstone, continue serving with some familiar faces, make new friends, and hopefully put down roots with my family in a location that has no Reformed church of any kind, a town I could well see myself serving in as church-planter in the future, testing the waters and building momentum toward that end.
It’s also an opportunity to continue walking toward people with open hands. How is Christ already working in this new place? Which expressions of his church might speak to them? How might faith, long forgotten, come alive to them? Which truths can make that daring journey from the head to the heart?
Gather the faithful, seek the lost, welcome all.
This will be my project, and I am very eager to begin!
support need
This new position comes with acute needs for me and my family. Grace and Peace, being a church plant, can offer very little in terms of a salary currently. I will therefore be reliant on support and work outside Grace and Peace.
By April 15th (the most apparent day for money concerns), I have an earnest goal for raising my own support. This means, I must have a significant portion of my livelihood accounted for or I cannot proceed with this position. I will be seeking bi-vocational employment (prioritizing localized ministry opportunities first) in the meantime. However, the more support I can raise, the less time I have to spend focusing on other work besides this.
We also have needs beyond the financial. We need people in our corner, praying, seeking Christ with us and checking in. I offer up all these needs to you before God as opportunities to invest in his kingdom through us. Therefore, friends, please consider the following actions:
Pray, read, meet, give
Sign up for a newsletter I will be putting together, addressed to all supporters, moral and financial alike. You’ll be able to keep your prayers informed about this project.
Join in my daily Scripture reading project. I am building ways for my friends to be a people bound together by the word. You’re invited!
Put time on my calendar to talk further in a variety of settings. I’d be happy to answer questions and help you decide how you can support, and–this is very important–how I can also support you in your life.
Make a contribution. Please know that I insist that we speak first! First giving deadline is 4/15.
That’s all from me. May we all, in Christ, recognize these needs as opportunities to invest in the kingdom of God and others through the work of ministry. Whatever your capacity and involvement at this time, I am blessed to continue calling you my friend. Love to hear from you soon!
Grace from Him to you through me,
Pastor Clay's Blog 