Candidate 9 Profile

Section A. Background Information

10. Year of Ordination

2014

11. Denomination of Ordination

Dutch Reformed Church

12. If not RCA, what classes or supervising body from the ordaining denomination recognizes your ordination?

Dutch Reformed Church, ABR (my code: SCHOE012)

13. Present denomination

Dutch Reformed Church

14. Present classis or judicatory

Classis of South East Pretoria, South Africa

15. If you are not now a member of the Reformed Church in America, can you, in good conscience, agree with the doctrine, discipline and government of the RCA?

Yes.

16. Do you support the mission and division of the Reformed Church in America?

Yes.

17. Citizen of what country? If not USA, do you have permit to live and work in the USA?

Republic of South Africa. The immigration process to the US may look daunting to the search team. However, the RCA and specifically my referrals, have experience in completing this process. I grew up in Columbus, OH as a child. My father was a visiting professor of Chemistry at the Ohio State University. While living in Columbus I attended a Presbyterian Church with my parents. I completed my middle school years in the Worthington school district. I love Midwest USA. I, however, don’t have a green card.

18. Previous Experience

19. Formal Education

20. Continuing Education

21. Languages (list any languages, other than English, in which you can preach or converse fluently)

Afrikaans, Belgin Dutch

Section B. Reflection

1. Describe your strengths, the best of who you are, and what you bring in service to the church.

• I have a passion for people.

• I have a passion for Bible study.

• I am a pastoral counselor.

• I have a Bible orientated faith, with a Reformed theology.

• I am a financial accountant, specializing in Church finances and the financial matters of non-profit organizations.

• I am a singer and regularly lead the worship team as singer.

2. Name two or three mentors who have significantly contributed to your ministry, and explain why these people are important to you.

Rev. Paul Grobler, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. He was my minister and mentor when I did my internship year at the Dutch Reformed Church. I learned a lot from him regarding the life and task as a shepherd in a Reformed congregation.

Dr. Stefan Joubert, a professor of mine at the University of Pretoria (MDiv) and minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. An inspiring author. I learned from him how to apply Biblical faith in everyday life and how to provide Biblical and spiritual guidance as a minister of the Living Word.

Prof. Ernest van Eck, my promoter for my PhD and minister in the Netherdutch Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk in SA). A clever and inspiring man. He guided me in forming theologically, specifically in interpreting the Word of God in a way that can build faith in a person and congregations.

3. What caused you to enter ministry, and what are the core values that define your vision for ministry?

- What caused me to enter ministry?

I received a calling from the Lord while in high school to become a minister in a congregation. Then I started with a discernment process in prayer with my mentor (my minister as high school scholar) and received word from the Holy Spirit (in my heart) to study theology. Years later and after much prayer I received a calling from the Spirit to join the Dutch Reformed congregation Estcourt in 2014 to be their shepherd in faith.

I had positive role models as a child- good Reformed ministers that communicated the Word of God in a clear way. I also wanted to do exactly this- to communicate the Word of God in such a way that the will God become clear to the listener.

-Core values that define my vision for ministry

I believe that it is my task as a minister to preach and teach the Living Word of God in an authentic and honest manner. The spiritual leader in the church of Christ must be a servant leader (like Jesus was), while in an authoritative role as spiritual leader.

In life and theology I strive to be always balanced, recognizing that there may be different opinions in any given congregation.

For me, the family church is an integral part of faith. Family and faith go hand in hand. In a spiritual family I take part as a team player and like to form lasting friendships. The spiritual family of the Lord is the congregation.

The boldness of faith and to make a positive difference in my community is important to me.

Justice is a Biblical core value that I dearly hold. Everyone is equally important for the Lord. We as the church of Christ should serve in His name for His glory.

4. Explain the strategies or ideas that most excite you for helping a church to become and remain missional.

The Church of Christ should bring hope to the world! “hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5 NIV)”. It is the hope that the Holy Spirit gives to the Lord’s children in their hearts. It doesn’t disappoint. It is the good news (gospel). It defines who we are as believers. Hope in everlasting life and that the will of God will prevail in our lives. It is this “hope” and gospel that we must bring to the world and shine our light.

The church should be a place of worship (to bring Him glory in prayer and song) and where we teach the Bible so that we can grow closer to God and in our faith. As believers we must be witnesses to the glory of the Lord. This will enable us to spread the Love of God and invite others to church.

The church of Christ has an obligation to serve those in need! This is an excellent place to reach out to the needy in the community or further away. We have to serve them not only in material needs but also faithful needs (like bringing the gospel to those who cannot come to church).

5. Name three of your most passionate hopes for the Church at large, and why they are significant to you.

I would like the church to keep studying the Word of God and live it to the best of its ability. This is the main reason I became a minister. Always stay focused on the Bible.

I would like the church to bring the hope of the Lord to the World. We (as believers) have to do this as a faithful family and spiritual team. Working together may include outreach projects that we do together as a family of faith, or with other congregations.

It is my prayer that the members of our churches and those outside the church to be inspired by the Holy Spirit so that they might have a personal relationship with the Lord.

6. Give an example of how you would theologically address an issue facing your contemporary world. Please be thorough enough to help the reader to understand your thought processes and your life commitments.

- Law and the rule of God

Many believers have asked me if my church “believes in grace”. After carefully inquiring about the nature of the question and some reflective listening, I understand their question. The person asking the question may have attended a congregation (as a child) that only had “sin” or “the wrath of God” as topics in church services. Via televangelists or other pastors they have come to understand the grace of God for the first time and may even have left the denomination for this reason.

I usually respond with one of my favorite Bible verses: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:1-2 NIV)

What this Bible verse is saying is that God’s own Son, Jesus in the likeness of a human, was a sin offering in flesh. He paid the price for our sin and therefore there is no condemnation for the believers in Christ Jesus.

Our requirement is not to keep the law in flesh, but rather to live according to the Holy Spirit of God. The law (even the law in the Old Testament) can teach us who God is and what God expects of us. But to live in accordance with the law is humanly impossible, thus we need our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ.

As believers, our desires don’t come from the flesh or the word – that is the wrong mindset. Our mindset comes from the spirit and is in accordance with what the spirit desires. This is to obey God as our Father in heaven. If the Spirit of God lives in you, you belong to God – focus your mind on His desires.

What the church may have missed in the past was that: if the law of God is emphasized the grace of God must also emphasized, because the more sin the more we need grace.

7. What theologians, pastors, authors or other leaders have had the greatest influence upon your life and thought? (List up to 4 and explain.)

Philip Yancey, a famous writer. In his many books he touches on topics like grace, spiritual survival in the modern word and faith in the church. For me, the concept of “the grace of God” received a new meaning. Various books that he authored helped me in my personal faith and had spiritual growth as a result. The topics of sin, death and grace was illuminated by the deeds of Jesus on the cross.

Douglas E. Oakman. New Testament scholar in the USA. He is a pioneer in utilizing the socio- economic method to interpret the New Testament in first century Palestine. By using this method I have come to Biblical insights that could only grow my faith.

Bruce Malina. New Testament scholar in the USA. He is a pioneer in understanding and interpreting Biblical characters. Biblical characters, specifically in the parables, can be understood by using his method. This allows the reader to gain insight into the Biblical text and first century Palestine in the time of the New Testament.

8. How do you hope someone influenced by your ministry would describe what s/he considers to be most important?

Two topics comes to mind:

The message of the gospel, the good news, is that Jesus Christ died for our sins and we can now receive the grace of God and eternal life. With this grace comes the Holy Spirit that renews our faith and our mindset (Rom. 5). This mindset, that the Spirit gives us, is that our desires are in line with his desires and we praise Him for that. The Spirit might even lead to someone to join our church or receive a personal calling in their faithful journey.

It is also about one’s relationship with the Lord. It is also my prayer that attendees might become closer to the Lord when attending a service. In a church service, the attendees should feel the presence of the Holy Spirit intensely. This is established by preaching the living Word of God in a practical way. Understanding and knowing the Word of God brings us closer to Him, which leads to having a closer relationship with Him.

9. Name at least one challenge for a pastor who accepts a Call to lead a church whose culture is other than his/her own.

A new pastor must be realistic about the differences between congregations.

Every community and congregation is different. Whether it is a city, town or in the rural areas every community and congregation is different. The challenge is that the new pastor must be able to learn the ways of his/her new congregation in a given community so that he/she can explain Biblical principles practically and accordingly.

The way I would go about this challenge is to meet personally with the members of the new congregation. Perhaps in person (like over a cup of coffee for example) or over social media. Form there I will know what matters to the congregation (their family for example) and from there I can lead the congregation spiritually with Biblical principles that matters.

I usually pray with the members in my congregation and ask the Spirit for guidance in our own lives.

For the pastor to stay in touch with the congregation is then the next challenge. I shall keep the ministry as personal as possible and stay up to date with the faith challenges of the members.

10. Describe your vision and hopes for the Church over the next 5-10 years.

I am positive about the future of the church of Christ as He shall never forsake His church. I am also positive about the Reformed churches as I have a Reformed orientated faith (according to the Reformed confessions of faith).

I hope that the church remains committed to the Word of God. It is the Word of God that brings us closer to Him by teaching us His ways. The Spirit also works through the living Word.

My vision is that the church must preach the Word in a practical manner and be active in our communities. Church growth and the youth ministry must receive more attention. In most Western contexts a ministry focused on the family is important.

11. If there is anything else you would like to add about yourself that you think would help a search team to better understand and consider you as their next pastor, please elaborate here.

My favorite subjects are studying the Bible and to explain it an an honest and practical way. As a young and motivated minister, by the grace of God, I feel called to be in full time ministry.

I also feel called to be a pastor in a Reformed church. Whether it is a town in the countryside or in a medium sized city, I am willing to start praying about the possibilities that God has planned for me personally as a minister and for your congregation.

My leadership style can be expressed as a servant leader, because I utilize the strengths of members in ministry teams (for example musical talent in a worship team).