Together In The Journey
"I have been part of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada since I left the womb!"
While not premeditated or scripted, those words were the opening response to a question. It was a gathering between some fourth-year Vanguard students and District team members on a credential meet and greet, and I was asked why it was important for me to belong to the ABNWT of the PAOC. While I don't recall thinking those exact words previously, it is the truth. Allow me to explain.
Born into a ministry family, my parents, James and Margaret MacKnight, who had both sensed the call to ministry while growing up in their local congregations, made their way to Eastern Pentecostal Bible College to prepare themselves for the pastorate. There they began to connect with like-minded people of faith who shared that same call to ministry. The obvious step beyond graduation was to continue that journey as fellow credential holders with the PAOC. This was not out of blind loyalty but because of treasured (valued) relationships and a shared mission.
So growing up, I had a front-row seat to the benefits and blessings of belonging. They were part of something much bigger than their local assignment: a family actively investing in each other's lives and ministry. This family prayed together, served together, and stood together. There were moments to rejoice together as well as moments where they could weep together.
As I began my own journey, responding to my own call to vocational ministry, I took my own steps toward belonging. From an initial application in 1982 to ordination in 1984, like my parents before me, I have benefited from belonging to this faith family.
Peers to learn and grow with, and older leaders who have been able to model, teach and be part of equipping me to develop my own gifts and calling. These are leaders who trusted me, not just with words but by providing space and opportunity to contribute and lead. There have been so many national and district gatherings that provide instruction, inspiration, and that hope-inspiring reality that I belong to something bigger than my own personal context of ministry.
The benefit of belonging is not simply having available resources that I can look to when I'm in need, but it means the opportunity to contribute, to make an investment in the mission of God together, and to be there to add value to the lives of others. After all, that is the way of the kingdom. We are blessed in order to be a blessing.
Looking forward to seeing you all and sitting at a table with others at DC23 on May 10.
Mark is the President of Vanguard College. Married to his best friend Pam, they have two great children, Rachel and James, both involved in ministry. Mark’s desire and passion is to encounter the God of unlimited resources who has big plans for His Church and the next generation of leaders.