Page 10 - Glory & Grace Issue 12: Witnesses

PAGE 10
In its own way, co-pastoring a large congregation is trekking of its own kind. Each day our pastors “lace up” their boots for whatever the Holy Spirit might throw at them. Navigating the peaks and valleys of ministry Pastors Ben and Jen have discovered that the greatest gift they have is one another. A partner who gets it. A person who prays with and for
you. A companion who believes you can make it up the mountain, even if you
don’t think you can.
For Ben, the mountains (and especially his experiences in the mountains while on staff at Christikon Bible Camp during his college years) represent holy ground. In the mountains, God’s Spirit is heard alongside the rush of the river. It is here where moments of clarity arise amidst the rustle of the trees. Among the mountains, there is opportunity to wonder all over again, “what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8). Before meeting Ben, Jen had never hiked a mountain. I guess people really will do anything for love.
Ben and Jen at Goat Flats in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness in October 2023 (photo credit, daughter Cora).