Pictured: Harry Goodwin, Mark Owens, Hannah Goodwin

Someone once said that the mark of a good leader isn’t in how many people they can gather to follow them, but in how they release the gifts of those that are around them.

Ignite Elim Church have a passion for mission, starting new Churches and releasing new leaders. This month Mark Owens moved from Swansea for a one year internship with our Church where he’ll learn theology in our academic Bible School, and he’ll be given training in groups and one-to-one on communication, leadership, and character development, as well as being encouraged to find his identity and to mature emotionally.

We also really excited that Harry, married to Hannah, has started his three year training for ministers in the Elim Pentecostal Church which should lead to ordination. Harry has been with us for around eight months, serving on our team, and is now part of the Pastoral team at Ignite Church.

The mark of a mature believer isn’t always knowing a lot about the Bible. In fact, if you look at the five-fold ministry in Ephesians 4 you will notice a progression from Apostle who sees fertile ground, Prophet who sows the seed of faith, Evangelist who brings in the harvest, onto Pastor who brings new believers to a place of unity with themselves and emotional maturity, to finally allow the Teacher to bring some depth of the Spirit to the Christian. A lack of empathy or compassion, or even a struggle with identity, shows that a believer probably isn’t mature enough to even desire to grasp the depths of what the Holy Spirit has to offer, and so will often look for answers in scripture instead of looking for Jesus.

We aim to raise up emotionally and spiritually mature believers to a place where they want to serve the Lord for the sake of the gospel, rather than for the sake of filling a whole that a lack of identity will leave us with.

If you’re interested in doing an internship where you can find healing as well as training, please contact us via email or our contact form. You can find out about our other opportunities by clicking on our Opportunities link at the top of our website.