{"id":1528,"date":"2017-12-14T11:05:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T17:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2018-02-16T13:31:55","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T19:31:55","slug":"alumni-spotlight-nathan-pickard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/alumni-spotlight-nathan-pickard\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight- Nathan Pickard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet GST Alum, Nathan Pickard! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Nathan lives in Newmarket, Ontario with\u00a0his wife Katie and two boys, Caleb and Eli. He enjoys spending his time playing hockey with the kids. He also has a love for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He\u00a0received a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from ACU. Most recently, he wrote a small book called Praying for the Neighborhood<\/i> and also contributed a chapter to the book called Along the Way <\/i>which\u00a0was edited by Ron Bruner and Dana Pemberton. He also writes for our\u00a0GST Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1) Where are you currently working & what is your role? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I am the minister at Newmarket Church of Christ (a small city 40 minutes north of Toronto). I have been serving this congregation for just over 13 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Do you feel like the GST prepared you for your current role? If so, how?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GST prepared me by asking ecclesiological and missiological questions that no one asked me to answer before. They also helped develop my theology of church and mission. This training has allowed me to serve a congregation that is multi-cultural and also on the cutting edge of living within a very a post-Christendom culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interacting with faculty on a regular basis also helped me develop a love for communities of faith. Seeing my professors love the church (when its easy to grow dissatisfied) has helped me become a minister who cares deeply about longevity with a congregation. <\/span>GST also prepared me by being a place where I could develop friendships; friendships that help sustain my theological interests and work.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember eating breakfast with Dr. James Thompson one morning and asking him why there isn’t a lot of “text” classes. Thompson responded with words similar to, “It’s important to teach you how to read Scripture rather than specifically teach you certain texts. If you can learn how to read Scripture you can read the texts with your community of faith.” What Thompson said can easily be translated to other areas of study. GST helped me learn what it means to be a student of theology, ethnography, eccelesiology, etc., and because of this, GST has given me the tools to think deeply about the life of the church. <\/span><\/p>\n

3) What is something you are currently most excited about in your ministry? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m excited about our work in the neighborhood. We have a community garden, summer camp, neighborhood meals, street BBQ’s. We’ve recently partnered with the Town so that a bike trail and a neighborhood parkette could be built as part of the Town’s development. I’m also really excited about conversations where we as a community of faith are exploring the development of a hospitality house where we will invite individuals to live inside the neighborhood and help connect church and neighborhood in deeper ways, while also building upon the work we’ve been engaged in over the years. This conversation is one of the most significant conversations we have undertaken. I look forward to continuing this conversation. (See Nathan’s blog about working in his neighborhood here<\/a>)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4) Tell us about a GST professor or two that inspired you. Feel free to use a story, or just explain why and how they impacted your life. <\/strong><\/p>\n

There were two professors that inspired me. First was Dr. Tim Sensing. I was Tim’s Graduate Assistant and so had to spend a lot of time with him. His stories of church and family, his quiet demeanor, steadfastness and friendship helped shaped me into who I am today. The second was Dr. Mark Love. It was Mark’s class on evangelism that helped me see the kingdom of God in new ways. It was also Mark who introduced me to the missio Dei and as a result, has shaped my eccelesiology and way of ministry. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet GST Alum, Nathan Pickard! Nathan lives in Newmarket, Ontario with\u00a0his wife Katie and two boys, Caleb and Eli. He enjoys spending his time playing hockey with the kids. He also has a love for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He\u00a0received a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from ACU. Most recently, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12095,"featured_media":1529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[386,64120,1280],"class_list":["post-1528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-alumni-spotlight","tag-doctor-of-ministry","tag-graduate-school"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Spotlight- Nathan Pickard - ACU Graduate School of Theology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get to know GST alumni, Nathan Pickard, minister at Newmarket Church of Christ. 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