New pastor for Stowmarket
On Saturday 3 September at Stowmarket Baptist Church about 200 people from Stowmarket and neighbouring churches, plus visitors from further afield, gathered for the induction service of Stephen Nowak as the church’s new pastor.
Elder David Barker, who chaired the meeting, gave thanks to God for his patient care of the church during the past two and a half years without a pastor. His fellow elder, Jim Spencer, gave an account of how Stephen Nowak was called.
Stephen had been the pastor at Montpelier Place Baptist Church, Brighton, for nine and a half years. When he first came to preach in Stowmarket in June 2009 he had no intention of leaving Brighton.
It was, therefore, over a year before he came to Stowmarket again, and by the time of his second visit he was beginning to believe that God was calling him to move on.
The elders visited Stephen at his home in Brighton and came away convinced that this was the man that God had prepared for the church for such a time as this. Church members accepted the elders’ recommendation and Stephen was invited to be their new pastor.
Missionary work
Stephen expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Lord and the church and explained that he and his family were excited about being in Stowmarket and were keen to get on with God’s work of telling the ever-growing population of Stowmarket about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Erroll Hulse was the invited speaker who has supported and encouraged Stephen over a number of years.
We heard how Erroll handed the reins of his missionary work in Indonesia over to Stephen, and how this has led Stephen to embark on further missionary work in teaching indigenous pastors in Tanzania and the Philippines, as well as seeking to provide good Reformed literature to these various pastors.
Erroll gave a scriptural challenge to the pastor on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday morning reminded the congregation of their responsibilities as church members.
A fine tea was enjoyed after the service, with much rich Christian fellowship.
May the Lord be praised and may his church be richly blessed in this land and throughout this sin-saturated world, to the glory of our Lord and Saviour.
