Okay, it has been a little while since I gave a ministry update so I'm about due for one, I think!
David has preached two sermons so far, both in the same Anglican parish. The parish priest is on sabbatical until August 1st, and so they've been filling the pulpit with the assistant priest, but she is elderly and can't manage up to three sermons a day, and so David has been picking up some to help her. This means an uncertain schedule, and a different pulpit every time! So far he's preached in a small satellite church and the larger main service at the central church both in the same parish. He has at least one, and possibly two more sermons booked this month, both helping out the same minister. The first (which is on the 17th of July) is in a separate parish, but again a small, country church. The last one (on the 24th of July) is at a special commemorative service at a now defunct Anglican church owned by the parishes. Four services, four different locations.
As for further preaching opportunities the only one that has presented itself so far is a chance to speak at a street shelter in a local city. This is completely new to us; we have no experience whatsoever with this kind of preaching, but David is always up for sharing God's word so we think it might turn out to be a fun experience for us! This will probably happen sometime in the Fall.
On the education side of things, David is about three-quarters done the first of three sections for his final correspondance course: Leadership and Church Management. To complete the first section he needed to read a book, fill out about twelve self-assessment profiles and then for each profile write a one-page, single spaced response to his results. He's finished the book, taken all but one self-assessment, and written about four profiles so far. We're hoping he'll be finished section one soon so that he can move on to the next section. He's about three months into his six month timeline on this course.
Future course opportunities are a little hazy for us right now. We feel that we just need to focus on getting this one done! David may apply for a Wesleyan District Education Grant, and if he does that (and gets it)then he will use it to take 'Introduction To Homiletics' at the Bible College. He's taken the course before but wants to refresh himself and learn new techniques. In January (and this is looking far into the future and into the land of maybe) he would be interested in taking a class in 'Expository Preaching'. Both of these courses have a very heavy workload and both would require some fairly extensive time management from us regarding child care, my work at the church and the cafe, David's job and so forth. The college is about a 45 minute walk away, longer in the Winter, and we don't own a car.
In terms of other opportunities David is in the process of getting more involved in ministry at our local church. We've been trying to set up some 'job shadowing' for visitation at the local hospitals and nursing homes between our pastor and David. After the last meeting I think that may be starting to come together and hopefully after the Summer ends he will be following our pastor around to see the less fortunate in our community. Our pastor has also provided David with a reading list to go through.
Finally, David's application for a student ministerial license goes before the district council this week. This is the culmination of all of those interviews he did in the Fall and Spring, if you remember. The district board of ministerial development (DBMD) has approved his application and this final step is necessary to actually grant the license. His application will be voted on before Sunday, that's all we know.
We can't tell you how much we've felt your prayers and kind wishes over the last nine months of this journey. Keep praying, saints, the race isn't won!
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