Pastor Paul’s Role

So what exactly does Pastor Paul do, and what is his role at New Life? The ministry highlight for this month is my role as Discipleship/Executive Pastor. This role did not exist previously at New Life and is ever evolving as the Lord leads. As a pastor, I see my role in the body primarily as a teacher and equipper to the saints. According to Ephesians 4:11-12, “God gives gifts to each person in the body to serve in their appropriate function.” I believe the Lord has called me and gifted me to serve as a pastor, specifically to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” A particular way I seek to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” is in looking for the ways God has gifted members of the body and encouraging the use and pursuit of these gifts for the glory of God. I desire to equip families to disciple their children and for all the saints to be trained in rightly handling the Word of God, being mature and able to teach others. My heart’s desire is that as Jesus is exalted and his Word is being applied in the lives of His people, the church will grow in maturity, being built up in love.

We live in a society that is very confused about roles. And there are many roles in the body of Christ too. We must understand how the Lord has defined the ways in which we ought to relate to Him and to one another according to the roles he has given us. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians describes the ways the saints should interact with one another by using an analogy of an actual body. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.”

My role is twofold: Executive/Discipleship. Some of the roles of Executive pastor include oversight of Children and Family Ministry, especially in reference to equipping parents as well as providing resources and counsel for each ministry team as we seek to have every ministry be a Christ-centered ministry. I am also a point of contact for partnering with appropriate, Christ-centered ministries in the Dresser area. Along with Tony and Chandler, I participate in various forms of church communication and announcements as well as planning for and bringing the agenda to elder meetings.