Pastor Vernon Tribute

INTRODUCTION:

TRIBUTE:

They say that the early years of a child’s life are some of the most important because of fundamental assumptions that are formed about the world, your role in that world and how you should go about it.

This is pretty obvious when you look a different children and see fundamentally different trajectories based on core assumpions in their heart. Assumptions forged in their earliest years of life.

What’s true of children generally is also true of ministers going into ministry. The early years of local church ministry will often build in the core assumptions and general practice of life in Jesus should look like and how to effective lead and minister to the people of God.

For that reason, I’m so thankful to God that my earliest years of ministry were under the supervision and alongside in partnership with Pastor Vernon.

Three Key Truths

Through those early years Pastor Vernon taught me several essential key truths.

#1. Ministry is fundamentally TO people.

It’s the people business.

Interrupts don’t keep us from ministry, they ARE the ministry.

The longer I serve - the more the ministry grows - the more complicated ministry becomes. Insurance, building blueprints, capital campaigns, dealing with staff and relationship problems.

Yet - all of that complexity - at the end of the day - it’s all in service of ministry TO PEOPLE.

I’ll remember him not for the sermons he preached but for the way he made me FEEL. He made me feel important. He made me feel seen and loved and useful to God’s Kingdom.

#2 Ministry is fundamentally HARD WORK.

Outside of Pastor David I don’t know anybody else in ministry who works as hard as pastor Vernon.

Early years = block parties, home visits, air castles, tables/chairs, writing sermons, going on mission trips. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears! It’s not for the faint of heart.

Vernon showed a spirit of diligence, industry and resilience.

Even when it was the most “lowly of tasks.” Even when he was sick and unhealthy. Even when it would’ve be easier to take a different approach or when he had opportunity to take the shortcut he didn’t do it.

When he became pastor of Broadview West he had an entire church to run on top of the missions and local missions outreach he had run up to that point.

Vernon was like the apostle Paul - working harder than ANY of the other apostles but not him but the grace of God within him.

3.Ministry is FOR JESUS

The third and most important truth that Vernon taught me through his life is that ministry is FOR JESUS.

People joke about his Jesus hat