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The new pastor of Snells Beach Baptist Church hopes to develop a congregation that reaches beyond the church walls to love and serve the community.
Pastor Nathan Friedt says a key question he will be asking in the coming weeks is, ‘Are there areas in our community where there are hurting people who are not being reached by other churches or government social initiatives?’
Pastor Nathan, together with his wife Chelsey and their three children, emigrated from Canada to take up the position at Snells Beach, which commenced with an induction service on October 12.
He was formerly the lead pastor at First Baptist Church at Peace River in northern Alberta, a town of about 7000 people.
Pastor Nathan says he and his wife felt God calling them to serve internationally, but to begin with they were not sure where that would be.
While searching online, Rev Friedt came across the Baptist Church network in New Zealand and the need for a pastor at Snells Beach.
“It was the one church we ended up applying to, and here we are. We kind of fell in love with the idea of living in New Zealand as we started to work through the process,” he says.
Pastor Nathan, 35, says Snells Beach Baptist was looking to find a pastor who could respond well to a growing community and one who would be welcoming to young families and new people.
He says attracting younger families had been a feature of his work at Peace River. The church doubled in size to a congregation of 500 during his time there. Currently, the congregation at Snells Beach is just over 100 people.
Pastor Nathan is a graduate of Steinbach Bible College in Manitoba and Carey Theological College in Vancouver and has been a pastor all his working life.
“I like the shepherding and care for people and walking with them through the spiritual ups and downs of life,” he says.
Pastor Nathan replaces pastor Maurice Milmine who has served as a part-time transitional pastor at Snells Beach for the last three years.
