By Norm Park
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There is a new spiritual leader at Estevan's Alliance Church.
Pastor Jim Kedge has answered the call from the King Street church's congregation with his official duties to commence Aug. 1. Kedge, however, already has a pretty good spiritual working relationship with the church members, having filled in as a visiting pastor on a number of occasions in recent months following the transfer of Alliance's former lead pastor Chris Smith, to Winnipeg.
A native of Summerland, B.C., Kedge completed his elementary and high school education there before enrolling at the Canadian Bible College in Regina where he completed three-years of studies before answering the call to Kamloops, B.C. as their youth and young adults pastor, a junior position within the Kamloops Alliance Church. It was there he met Anna, the woman who would become his wife. She was completing her degree studies in social work, while he completed the last year of his formal theological studies.
A little more than six years later, the Kedge family, which has now grown to four (two daughters, now aged five and three) moved to Moose Jaw where he again accepted the position of youth and young adult pastor with the Alliance Church there.
By April of last year, Anna Kedge had started a masters degree program in social work in family counselling so the family took up residency in Caronport for about a year with Jim providing pulpit supply services for various churches that didn't have ministers to serve the congregations. With Smith having departed from Estevan around that time, Kedge found himself coming to Estevan once a month to fill the role and now, with an encouraging recommendation from Smith, he has accepted the invitation to be Estevan Alliance's full-time pastor.
"We have a good cross-section of youth and senior members in our church and I see our children's ministry is a draw. There are a lot of people out there wanting to make a difference and who want to see what God has in mind for them. So we'll explore to see what He has in mind for our congregation," said Kedge. "I have a sense of expectation in this, my first lead role. I was humbled by the invitation to join them and I will seek out additional educational experiences. So far I have found it pretty encouraging, especially from my once a month visits. It was a good soft start for me because a relationship already existed. I have a good feeling for the congregation."
Kedge, 34, said Waylon Klix, Alliance's youth and young adult pastor has been invaluable in helping him adjust in the early stages as has office administrator Bev Haukeness, who he described as a fountain of information about the church and the community.
"So I guess I'm more equipped to take this on than I thought I was. Waylon has filled in a lot of gaps before and will continue to do that. He's been here about three years and his work within schools and his fieldwork have contributed a lot. Bev, with her 10 years or more in the office, adds those touches to the point that I get a sense of where the church has been. So if I preach faithfully with love, it should be a good relationship. It would be a big mistake for me to start disturbing or dictating things. I'll discern where they (congregation) want to go and where God will lead us."
Kedge said the hospitality factor in Estevan is huge and he is already looking forward to the church's annual Family Camp experience at Kenosee Lake from Sept. 5 to 7, which will be one of his family's first forays into the church community beyond the pulpit.
