Jamie Gordon

The year 2011 was the notorious year that would forever my life. It started out as a naïve and innocent journey which quickly escalated into a startling roller coaster ride that left me dazed.

In 2011 I took some of the biggest steps that would forever revolutionize my life. This is was the year I got married, it was the year I graduated from the seminary and this was the year when I began full time ministry.

The month was May and we had just shifted our tassels on our graduation caps signifying the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. As I celebrated with friends on graduation day, it felt like our accomplishment defied gravity and we were lifted off the ground but for a while. Suspended in the air was I, as I felt like I had made it. I was jolly like a dog with a fresh bone, excited like a farmer in the harvest time and ready like a nine month expectant mother eager to push out what had been implanted in me. The theological theories were fresh, the plans, ideas and initiatives were numerous, but the rubber was still new, there was yet to be fumes from its collision with the stony roads of ministry.

The month was July, the day was the 1^st when I officially became enlisted as a minister of the gospel. I was garbed in my jet black suit which was custom made by the hands of a local tailor, I thought I was ready for ministry. But to my surprise I was warmly greeted by the tormenting sounds of screeching tires, the nauseating smell of burnt rubber and the frantic sight of freshly pasted tire marks in the road. It was then I realized that I just signed up for school all over again, the rubber had just hit the road and I was not in for a smooth ride.

Ministry I thought I was ready! This phrase adequately summed up my sentiments at that moment. Although overwhelmed by unpreparedness, failure wasn’t an option. By the grace of God through prayer, focus, mentorship and learning from mistakes I can humbly say today that I am not where I used to be but still aiming for where I ought to be. God began the process of polishing the gem He saw in me. To date I have been able to develop and utilize my God given gifts. My passions are preaching, youth ministry and media ministry. The lessons I have learnt thus far have been chronicled in my first published book entitled “Ministry, I thought I was ready!

This book consists of:

1. My early life leading up to my call to ministry
2. Practical nuggets unearthed from my early experiences in ministry.
3. Letters to the church membership, voicing some of the things ministers wished they knew.

1. Recommendations to the seminaries that can help ministers be better prepared to shoulder this supreme calling and responsibility.

My life’s mantra is “Life is full of moments; we must live in every moment, always allowing God to define those moments!” Have you stepped out into the unknown? Have you been greeted with challenges? Feeling overwhelmed and incompetent? Congratulations you have been qualified as a potential beneficiary to see firsthand the wonders that God can do when we let go and let God take charge of our destiny!

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