You need to meet Christian Hunt, our new Pastoral Assistant focused on Student Ministry.
But first, what is a Pastoral Assistant (PA)?
Something We Do Around Here
Here’s how we described the role during our search:
The Pastoral Assistant is for a brother seeking to become a vocational pastor, church planter, or missionary. He is looking to grow in pastoral wisdom, skill, and love in a healthy church committed to his growth. This role provides 4 years of growth in pastoral labors, after which he may find a more permanent place on our team or be sent out. The PA will normally be a brother who is a young married or single who has completed or is working on a seminary degree. He should meet the qualifications for eldership and possesses a zeal for the local church, for young people, and for the lost (1 Tim. 3:1–7; Tit. 1:5-9).
This marks a change from the “Director” role we’ve had in this post. A PA will typically be younger, with us for a defined period, and his development is part of the design. We can imagine PAs with a variety of responsibilities in the years ahead. For this PA, the lion’s share of his labors will be given to student ministry. Practically speaking, this won’t mean much change for students, families, and volunteer teams. But this profile and purpose helps our church advance the great commission. Read the whole role description and be encouraged.
Two conversations form the backstory to this adjusted profile. Conversations about budget realities led us to advance now on plans we’ve had to embed a development role into our staff team. Twenty years ago, we had a stable of full-time paid interns whom we sent out to pastor and plant from Heritage. Our mission to spread the unsearchable riches of Christ broader and deeper requires this kind of training and sending. These days we offer a twelve-week part-time internship and a stipended full-time pastoral residency. But our Pastoral Assistant vision will allow us to invest in a man over a handful of years.
As we discussed and prayed, we saw an opportunity with this staff position to advance this purpose. After all, we’ve hired men for this youth ministry post whom we’ve eventually sent out as lead pastors. Abe Stratton is a most recent example. There are others. Brad Baugham was with us full time as an intern before we sent him out to plant Emmanuel Bible Church. Some of our sent-missionaries were in similar roles. Or, closer to home, both Jason Read and I were in similar muti-year Pastoral Assistant roles in other churches years back. While serving their own congregations and us, those churches also served you. We have done this many times over at Heritage and this role is a way of continuing that work.
Adjusting for budget can mean hard decisions. We’re making some of those. But seasons like this also force us to be more creative in pursuit of our mission. We’re excited about the opportunity to invest in the growth of a man and prayerfully consider where to send him for the sake of the gospel.
Now, let’s meet the man taking this role.
Getting to Know a New Christian
New to us. Over the course of a year, we met and engaged with about a dozen men at different levels, three with visits to town. We met Christian in March. It was in April that we reframed the role as a Pastoral Assistant. To our delight, Christian remained interested. We invited Christian and his wife, Marie, for an exploratory visit in May. You may have even greeted them as a new face. If so, your hospitality factored into his decision to continue with us. Earlier this month we had Christian back for some planned interactions with staff and youth volunteer teams. Feedback from these interactions helps our elder team confirm our insights and instincts. As we hoped and prayed, these interactions were encouraging and confirming.
In the course of his interview process, Christian wrote answers to fifty questions covering character, theology, and ministry approach. Our elders interviewed him, checked with his references, prayed, and then agreed to invite him to fill the role. Now it’s time for you to meet him. As is our tradition, we’ll do that here with an interview.
Christian, thanks for answering a few questions for us. This will help us welcome you and love your family as you transition here. We’ll get to your ministry background shortly. But first, tell us about yourself, your wife Marie, and your children.
Marie and I have been married for almost seven years, and God has blessed us with three beautiful children; Brooklyn (age 6), Joseph (age 2), and Nathan (age 1). Marie originally grew up in a small town in central Minnesota, and I grew up in Flowery Branch, Georgia, which is about two hours from Greenville. We met at a Bible college in Montana as teenagers and got married when both of us were 20 years old, first settling in Denver, CO.
As a family, we’re very tightly knit, high energy, and somewhat loud. Brooklyn is a very curious young girl who’s interested in art and literature. She regularly invests hours in audiobooks, journals, and coloring books. Joseph is the most rough-and-tumble of us all and is happiest when he’s outside and out of breath. As young as Nathan is, we’re just beginning to see the contours of his personality, but already know him to be gentle, kind, and good-humored.
How did you come to faith in Christ and who the Lord used to bring you to him?
The story of my testimony is a story of God’s providence that spans most of my developmental years. In God’s kindness, I was born into a Christian home and taught the basics of the gospel from a very early age. I distinctly remember my mother explaining to me my sins and my need for a savior one night while I was lying in bed, and a few months later I made a profession of faith at the conclusion of an Upward Basketball camp. My understanding of the gospel was very basic, but I knew that faith was more than intellectual assent, and that putting my faith in Jesus would change the course of my life.
In my middle school and high school years I experienced spiritual growth and spiritual decline. During seventh and eighth grade I began to develop spiritual disciplines and experienced profound spiritual growth through the reading of the Word and prayer. I was also blessed with many positive spiritual influences who helped me mature in my faith.
When I reached my high school years my peer group became much more secular which greatly tested my faith. My hope in those years was that I would be a positive influence, a light, for the friends around me, but the reality is that through their influence my faith wilted and withered. By the end of high school I was deeply conflicted about the faith that I claimed and the lifestyle I had adopted, and God began to lead me towards a crossroads.
My older brother, who attended Moody Bible College at the time, began to call me and share the gospel with me as though I had never heard it. Initially I was put off by his calls because I believed that I was already a Christian, but there was something different about the way that he was talking to me. As brothers, we weren’t particularly close when he left for school, but over the phone I could hear in his voice that the message came from genuine love. He continued to call me for several months, and I began to realize that there was an enormous difference between the faith that I claimed to have and the faith that I saw in my brother.
In the summer following my senior year God used my brother and my parents to convict me of my sins and caused me to repent and submit to his will for my life. Though it wasn’t my aspiration, I found myself at Bible college that fall, and over the next several months I began to understand that the cross was the ultimate act of God’s mercy, grace, and power. I saw that my sins were far worse than I had ever understood before and that Christ’s sacrifice was far greater than I could dare to believe. All in a moment my hopes for my life shifted, and I completely lost my desire to live for myself. The joy of my salvation and the peace of God’s power had captivated me completely, and from then till now, and then for all my days, all I want is more of Christ.
You’re currently living in Minneapolis, working on a degree, and serving on staff at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Tell the story of what brought you to Bethlehem and how you have grown in your years there.
I joke with Marie that when we were first married I often said that I never wanted to live in Minnesota. At that time we were living in Denver, CO, and I was working construction as we settled into married life and began to put down roots in our church. At that time, our outlook was that Denver would be home for several years, but things started to change when we found out we were pregnant two months into marriage. With Brooklyn on the way, all of our conversations started to shift to “what’s next” and we began to pray and talk about where God was calling us to invest our lives.
Through prayer, and many conversations with our pastors and close friends we began to explore theological education and ultimately decided to move to Minneapolis to attend Bethlehem College and Seminary and become members at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Time has flown by, and we’ve now been at Bethlehem for almost six years. In that span, Marie and I have both completed theological degrees, we’ve welcomed home our two sons, and I’ve been greatly blessed to serve alongside the elders of Bethlehem as the church’s Director for Operations. But more than anything, we have grown as members of the body of Christ through a rich community that has loved us well, labored alongside us, and encouraged as we have sought to do the Lord’s will.
Now, bringing us to our new relationship with you, what led you to apply for this role at our church? Since then, we’ve had a handful of interactions. What have you learned about our church in the process? Why are you excited to come?
I first heard about Heritage in a conversation with Andy Naselli, a professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary, and a mutual friend named Cody Irwin, who also has connections to Heritage. I have a lot of respect for Andy, so when I saw that Heritage had posted a student ministry position I knew that I wanted to look into it further. After reading the role description, I was immediately impressed by how clearly Heritage articulated the importance of proclaiming the gospel to students.
As I’ve had the chance to meet the elders and some of the congregants I’ve been struck by the theological richness of Heritage and its desire to see students raised in the truth so that they mature into rooted, fruit-bearing men and women. The task of discipling students belongs to the church at large, and even in my early interactions with Heritage I could see that the congregation as a whole is committed to student ministry.
As someone who is personally passionate about seeing young people come to faith and grow in the knowledge of the truth, I have been extremely encouraged by the student ministries of Heritage. As is the case for my testimony and many others, so many young people are called to faith as they wrestle through the Scriptures and ask good questions about life and God’s plan for them. I am eager and honored to labor among you all in proclaiming the glory of the cross to your students so that the Kingdom of God might be furthered at Heritage.
What is the responsibility of the church to students and what is the role of student ministry in the church?
We are right to describe student ministry as a supplement to the discipleship parents carry out in the context of the family. Parents are the primary disciple makers for parents. Much could be said about the opportunity and responsibility of parents from texts like Deuteronomy 6 or Ephesians 5.
With this established, student ministry has its own important place. Student ministry is one vital way that the church aims to disciple its students by engaging them in a context that is designed to build community, be instructive, and be tailored to their season of life. Whether a person is in middle school, high school, or college, being a student comes with unique advantages and challenges that aren’t always addressed in other church contexts. Through student ministry the gospel can be taught and applied to address the unique challenges of student life, while also creating a space that fosters rich discipleship relationships.
But student ministry should only be thought of as one way of discipling students, not the way. Even before we speak of student ministry within the church, we need to speak about the discipling culture of the church at large. The responsibility to disciple young people belongs to the church as a whole and is bigger than can be accomplished in our student ministries a few hours a week.
In the wisdom of God, the church was designed to build itself up by the diverse gifts that the Spirit has gifted its members. That’s to say that all Christians should use their spiritual gifts to benefit others and benefit from the spiritual gifts that the Spirit has given to others. When the congregation engages students in the broader functions of church life we give them the opportunity to grow into their spiritual gifts, benefit from the spiritual gifts of others, and help them understand the nature of the church.
Here’s what this means for church members: Every member of the church should aim to contribute to the discipleship of young people by praying for them, engaging with them, and including them in the life of the body. By the time a student is graduating from college and entering into their adult years they should know from experience what it means to be a faithful Christian participating in the life of the church.
Books are always a helpful way to get to know someone better. What are three of the most formative books you’ve read besides the Bible?
Of course I’ve benefited from many books over the years, but few of them are books that I have taken the time to re-read. However, these three are exceptions: Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis, Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper, and The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.
Okay, we have to ask: What are three or four interesting things about you we would not know to ask about but that we would be entertained to know? Then, one or two interesting insights into Marie to help us get to know her.
I’ll start with Marie because she’s more interesting than I am. Marie is the sixth of eight siblings, and on her side of the family there are fourteen grandkids under the age of seven. She loves to cook and is a very good baker. She’s also the only one of the two of us who has ever been ice-climbing.
I love games and sports, and I was briefly a competitive weightlifter in high school. I’ve visited 42 states but never traveled internationally. And we both love the outdoors and are excited to live near the Appalachians and closer to the coast.
One final question: how can we serve you in this transition? And how can we pray for you in specific ways? We want to be good hosts and a loving church family for your dear family. Help us do that well.
We are extremely excited to be in Greenville and begin getting to know you all and are hoping to arrive in mid July! There are lots of to-dos before then, so please pray that God would give us strength in finishing our season in Minnesota well and completing the many tasks that must be done prior to leaving.
There is also some sadness in leaving a state where we have family, so please pray for Brooklyn and our other relatives, that they trust in God’s plans and provision during this season of change.
A Commencement Address
Finally, for another way to get to know Christian, here’s an address he gave to his fellow students at Bethlehem College and Seminary’s Commencement a few weeks back.
