New man for Isle of Man
A new chapter in the history of Grace Baptist Church, Peel, Isle of Man, began with the induction of its new pastor Glenn Walters.
On Saturday 11 September, the church – which was constituted in 1974 by Matthew Else, who received his ‘home call’ in 2008 – welcomed the new pastor.
One of the church deacons, Ray Richardson, who has been leading the church in the interim, led the welcome service and told of the way the Lord upheld the fellowship over the past two years and eventually led it to call Mr Walters to the pastorate.
The church in Peel is numerically small, but it was packed to the doors for the service. The readings were taken from Romans 10:1-21, and Phil LoBao, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Port Erin, gave the charge to the church.
He counselled the congregation on how to treat their pastor, saying they should esteem him by giving him the respect due to his position. They should love and pray for the pastor and his family; and for his studying, preaching, counselling and spiritual walk. They should follow his example as he seeks to follow Christ and should give him practical support.
William Randall, pastor of the church at Hainault Road, Leyton, who also worked with Mr Walters at the London City Mission, gave an address to help the new pastor in his first ministry. He spoke from Romans 10, showing how this Bible chapter provides a clear template for anyone in Christian ministry.
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In his sermon, he gave Mr Walters several things on which to focus. A pastor has been sent by God to preach the gospel to the lost and should, therefore, have a deep desire to see souls saved. He should have a concern for people, be a good communicator and be prepared to visit people in their homes.
Mr Walters gave a brief account of how God brought him to the Isle of Man. For many years he taught mathematics at Hebron Christian School in South India. During his time there, a friend sent him a copy of a sermon booklet published by Spurgeon Publications, an outreach work of Grace Baptist Church, Peel.
Mr Walters wrote to Matthew Else, the then pastor, asking to be put on his mailing list. Some time later, Glenn received a letter from Pastor Else enquiring about a teaching position in Hebron school for his daughter Pauline, who was a primary school teacher. This led to a position being found for her. And in 2000, Glenn and Pauline travelled to the Isle of Man to be married in the church in Peel!
The induction service was followed by a buffet and a happy time was spent with friends who had travelled in from Scotland, Ireland and England for the day. The fellowship continued the following day with an after-service meal.
It was a joyful and uplifting weekend, and as the happy crowd of people walked up the street at the end of the day, a young girl passing by was prompted to ask, ‘Have I missed something good?’ She was told that she certainly had, and was invited to the church service. We pray that God will bless Mr Walters’s ministry.
Sue Richardson
