As a local church grows in size (or is forced apart because of a virus!) it can become increasingly difficult to actually know everyone in the community and, thus, to be blessed by everyone in the community. This is unfortunate because there are no unnecessary members (1 Corinthians 12:7), none who are ungifted (Romans 12:6), and not one who isn’t called to the “work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” unto spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:11–13). Said another way, we need one another as Spirit-indwelled conduits of God’s grace to propel us toward holiness and, when unable to be around one another and to know one another, this process is hindered.
With that in mind, we’re going to try and “shrink the church” a bit today and, hopefully, provide an opportunity for one particular Oakridge family member to “build up the body of Christ” from afar. On this episode, Josiah chats with Gordon Rumford about his walk with Christ, his greatest struggles in his Christian life, lessons he’s learned along the way, and much more.
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Gordon began his full time work in the Christian ministry in the spring of 1966 when he graduated from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto (now Heritage Seminary in Cambridge). Since then he has also graduated with an honours B.A. and an M.A. from the Religion and Culture department of Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo. Having experienced much adversity in his own life, Gordon has made it a life calling to help others who are experiencing similar circumstances. This he does as a prolific author and through Rumford Ministries.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
