Dear Folks,
I look forward to introducing you today to Rob Ogilvie who is a friend and colleague and has served us as the BCY Regional Minister since 2008. For some of you in the BC area you know Rob through the church, through conversation about your concerns or have experienced his pastoral care and advocacy. Rob acts for the BC Convention of Churches as their representative in the Beulah Housing Society, Carey Centre, and Keats Camps. Rob and his wife Bonnie have two grown children: Annie and Lauren (all of whom have resided at Carey Hall, the parents as residential deans, the daughters as residents). I completely trust and value Rob’s work and more importantly, from a more personal point of view, he is a friend and colleague who has been a deep encouragement to me. Here are Rob’s responses to my questions.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy
1. Many folk have different personal, vocational, and faith journeys…could you share with us those journeys?
Faith Journey – brought up in a Christian home, son of a Baptist minister, never really knew a time when God wasn’t a part of who we were as a family. In my mid teens, with an awesome youth group and wonderful camp experience in southern Ontario, I made a personal commitment to Christ and was baptized by my dad when I was 16 in a small town called Arkona. I attended BLTS in 1982/83.
Personal/Vocational – I had no desire to do continuing education after high school, aside from BLTS, so I began working. Spent 4 ½ years in the McDonalds Restaurant Management program and ran my own restaurants in Calgary. After that, I decided to go to University. Did an undergrad at U of Calgary and at the end of it really wrestled with a call to pastoral ministry. Moved to Vancouver to do an MDiv
at Regent/Carey and Bonnie and I served as the Residential Deans at Carey for 3 years. Spent 5 years as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Weyburn, SK. and 8 years as pastor of Westwood Community Baptist in Coquitlam.
Bonnie and I met at BLTS and got married in 1984 so this summer celebrates our 28 th wedding anniversary. We have two daughters; Lauren is 20 and Annie is 17, both of whom will be attending UBC this fall.
2. How long have you been in this position? Please let us know about where you are living and maybe one eccentric detail of life?
I have been in this position for 4 years now. We live in Port Moody, a suburb of Vancouver, and have lived there now for 11 years. I like watching good action/thriller movies.
3. What is the basic makeup and description of what you do?
I see my role as a support, encourager and resource to both pastors and church leaders in the churches of the BC and Yukon region.
4. Who are the people that you primarily serve and how do you connect with them?
I serve both the pastors and church leaders in the BCY region, but since I am also the Executive Secretary of the Convention of Baptist Churches of BC, I also sit on the Boards of Carey Theological College, Keats Camps, and Beulah Gardens Homes Society.
5. What have been the challenging parts of this last twelve months?
Challenges – range from struggles in church life, to pastoral settlement, to dealing with credentialing issues. Last summer and fall were very challenging at Keats with some very difficult personnel issues.
6. What have been some of the times of celebration over these last twelve months?
Celebrations have included taking part in the Ordination Examining Council and then participating in the ordination services for pastors in their home churches. These are always joyous occasions. In my role I have the privilege of attending numerous church celebrations, such as anniversaries, inductions, and ordinations. Personal visits and New Pastor’s Orientation are also great times to connect.
7. What are some of the things you have felt were accomplishments this year and what are some of the on-going challenges that you will face as you go into the fall?
Challenge/Accomplishment – in this case these two go hand in hand. Last fall I walked with Royal Oak Community Church as they went through the decision to close their doors after 86 years of ministry in south Burnaby. It is not easy for a congregation to come to this conclusion, but this group of people worked well together in discerning what was right at this time, and so on Dec. 31, 2011, Royal Oak Community Church officially closed. Their closure meant that the building and assets of ROCC were turned over the CBWC. Tom Lavigne and I have been very involved in the development of a cooperative of churches now meeting in, caring for, and administering that building. It is very exciting to see the new life in that place and I am grateful to the people of ROCC for handing off this building, which is a gift, to be used by others for God’s glory.
8. Apart from Executive Staff, who are some of the people that you work most closely with month
over month?
The boards and staff of Keats, Carey and Beulah, our Regional Advisory Team for the BCY and Dawn Johannesson, the BCY Regional Assistant, who will this fall celebrate 20 years of serving the region.
9. What kind of Sabbath and renewal and break are you going to experience over the summer….for how long?
I will take two weeks of holidays mid summer, and then Bonnie and I will be spending two weeks in Turkey in September. We are very excited about this trip where we expect to both rest and also visit places that we have read about in our Bibles since we were just kids.
10. How might we pray for you?
Please pray for wisdom in all circumstances. In this role I get drawn into many different situations and I not only need God’s wisdom, but I also need to know that when I speak into situations that it is truly from Him, and not in my own strength.
11. Is there some kind of blessing or encouragement that you would like to share with us?
I would like to say that I consider it a great privilege to be able to serve the churches and God’s people in this role. People often say they would not want my job because of all the problems I must have to deal with. Sure, there are problems and struggles in the church, why wouldn’t there be, the church is made up of sin filled people just like me, but at the same time, the church is also filled with people who are usually trying to do their best to serve God. Take these verses from the Apostle Paul to the churches in Corinth as a message of hope and an encouragement to carry on. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 TNIV