My wife, Kim, and I have three children: Colleen (married to Kevin), Andrea, and Jake. Our family moved to Burnaby in September 2009 when I accepted a call to serve as our Lead Pastor. Before coming to Burnaby, I served a congregation in Hamilton, ON, and with the exception of one of our children who was born in the U.S., all were born and raised in Southern Ontario. I enjoy reading, woodworking, golfing, skiing, and restoring my VW Cabriolet–before becoming a pastor I was a Mechanical Engineer. Kim teaches Kindergarten at a local Christian school.
I continue to feel very blessed to serve and be part of the New West family. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is living in this community; there is a hunger for His Word, a reliance on prayer, a passion to serve others, a desire to share Christ’s love in tangible ways, and a growing sense that God is leading us to more intentionally reflect the ethnic diversity of the community God has placed us in. It’s exciting to see how God is at work among His people here at New West Church in Burnaby (I’m sure that our name and location confuses people!).
As a servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I long for His people to tangibly display God’s great love for the world He has made and God’s power to conquer evil, to rebuild what is broken, reconcile what is divided, and renew what is decaying. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus opened up for all who follow Him forgiveness that frees us from guilt and shame, and new life through the power of the Holy Spirit that brings strength in the midst of weakness, courage in the face of suffering, comfort, peace, and the ability to face death unafraid. That is Good News, indeed! And I praise the Lord that at New West Church we are striving to submit ourselves to this new life that Christ has opened up. If you are looking for a Gospel centered community to belong to, you are most welcome here. Pastor Andrew