Big changes are happening at Serious4God, Elim’s youth department. Director Mark Pugh is moving on to lead Elim’s church in Exeter and is being replaced by Tim Alford. Direction caught up with them both…
Tim, tell us a bit about yourself? Who are you and what’s your story?
Well, I’m Tim, I’ve been married to a lovely lady called Jen for nearly four years. I’ve been living in Coventry for 11 years, and for nine years of that time I was in a band called [dweeb]. That was an incredible adventure – writing songs, touring around the UK and Europe with my three best mates and telling as many people about Jesus as we possibly could!
The band [dweeb] came to an end in 2011 and since then I’ve been working with an Elim minister called Mark Greenwood at the Forty Three Trust, still telling people about Jesus! I’ve also had the amazing privilege of serving as one of the elders at the Coventry Elim church for four years.
Mark, why is now the time to step down from Serious4God?
I’m not wanting to sound over spiritual but I’ve just sensed God stir my heart to lead the church in Exeter. I was convinced that I would continue to lead Serious4God at least for the next five years in order to see through the remainder of the seven-year DEED vision, but God has really surprised me with a different plan. It was a pretty tough call to be honest – I’ve loved every moment of leading S4G over these last ten years and strongly believe that its best days are still ahead, but I’m so grateful to God for helping me hear him in this changing season. There have been numerous times in my life when I thought I had God’s plan all worked out and thought I knew what he wanted me to do for the years ahead, only to find a surprise come along which changed everything. This is another of those moments!
Tim, how quickly did you sense God leading you to take this role on when you were aware of the opportunity?
Well, in a similar way to Mark with his move to Exeter, it all came as bit of a surprise to be honest! Jen and I were ticking along quite nicely in Coventry, not particularly looking for anything new. Little did we know God had other ideas! Thankfully, God always knows what he’s doing and led us in the direction of Serious4God quite quickly as we prayed and talked it through with one another. We know there is a big task ahead but feel confident that God will be with us every step of the way.
Mark, how excited are you about Tim taking on the leadership of Serious4God?
I’ve known Tim a number of years now and have always been massively impressed with his life. I don’t want to embarrass him, but I’ve always seen him incredibly conscientious before God and before others. He takes stewardship very seriously and puts everything into any opportunities I have seen put before him. He is sensitive to hearing God’s voice – I’ve seen an exciting prophetic element to his life which has often caused him to respond personally with faith, time and time again. He has a strong missional drive – he loves communicating with people outside the church and is very good at it. He has a great way with people and is able to listen, consult and give leadership. He is a team player – he has the humility to recognise strengths in others and encourage and release them. I’ve seen him engage with large and small crowds of young people and he has a great ability to connect with them. I am really excited that Tim will be building on the foundations of the last ten years, and I believe God will use him greatly to take Serious4God to the next level.
Tim, what’s your plan and vision for Serious4God?
As I have considered taking on this new role and leading S4G in to the future, I’ve been reflecting on the story of Moses and Joshua. God gave Moses a vision to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the promised land. Moses cast the vision and through blood, sweat and tears got it off the ground, leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. Yet Moses was not able to see that vision through to its conclusion and before the people entered the promised land he appointed Joshua to lead in his stead. Joshua was wise in his leadership. He did not overturn all that God had done before, instead he honoured it by taking hold of the vision God had given to Moses and seeing it through to its conclusion.
I see something similar happening with this transition of leadership in S4G. In 2011, Serious4God launched a seven-year vision called DEED. As I take on the leadership of Serious4God I intend to honour what God has already been doing through Mark and the team, seeing the vision of the DEED through to its conclusion and building on it with fresh, new, God-breathed ideas. I believe wholeheartedly that God has great things in store for Serious4God and the young people in the Elim Movement as we honour the past and move forward with vision and determination into the future.
Mark, what’s been the highlight of your time at Serious4God?
There are so many to be honest. Seeing young people receive a sense of God’s call to ministry at one of our events, then come and be trained on our college programme, then become youth pastors and then be a part of seeing their own young people sense the call of God and releasing them to be trained has been an exciting thing. One of our national team members now was one of those young people ten years ago.
I’m so grateful to God for all the young people we have seen give their lives to Jesus in our events and tours – the moment that really stands out was seeing so many on that one very special day at the NEC Arena back in 2007.
I’ve had the joy of working with incredible people who have kept raising the bar and believing God for greater things. Across the Elim churches there are youth leaders who give so much time, passion and energy to make a difference. It’s been an honour to get to know many of them and hopefully to be an encouragement.
Mark, will you continue to have an involvement in Serious4God?
I’ll definitely be cheering the ministry on and praying for Tim and the team – I am keen to be a source of encouragement for them and will do all I can to express this.
Mark and Tim, what would you say are the greatest challenges for churches wanting to reach young people today?
MP: More people become Christians under the age of 18 than at any other stage of life – if only we could grasp the significance of working with this age group then I’m sure we would all pour more resources into this strategic ministry. The challenges of discipleship and integrating young people into vibrant Christian communities are huge but there are great signs of progress all over the country. If a church has no young people I’m pretty sure you will find they haven’t invested in young people. It’s pretty simple really, we have to invest.
TA: I think sometimes we assume that young people have an interest in Christianity where they actually have an objection. For that reason I believe it is key for the church to sharpen up on relevant apologetics, that we can confidently tackle the objections we face from them. Questions surrounding the areas of science, sexuality and suffering, as well as relativist and pluralistic views of God, religion and truth are massive stumbling blocks among young people today. It is these objections that cause young people to believe that Christianity is outdated, old fashioned and irrelevant in our modern world. Now, you and I know that’s not the case. We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is still the hope for the world and it is still the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe! We know that it is neither outdated nor irrelevant, but that it stands up to intellectual interrogation and still works in 2013. The big question is, do we know how to communicate it as such? That’s a massive challenge for all of us across the church – young and old alike – and is key to reaching un-churched young people today.