Hello, Church! It’s my privilege to introduce myself to you all as your newest Pastoral Assistant! My focus will be primarily with youth however I will have various responsibilities to further the ministry of New Day. I’m so excited and expectant for what the Lord has in store for the New Day youth going forward, but before I dive into all of that, I wanted to reintroduce myself and give an update on where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to for the past three years!
As most of you know, I’m the youngest son of our previous Senior Pastor (now Missions Pastor), Cameron Wright, and as such have grown up here at New Day. Throughout my childhood I always had a relationship with God and was familiar with His presence, and as I entered into my teenage years, I began to increasingly involve myself in ministry. I volunteered in various ministries at New Day; joined the church worship team for 3-4 years; served in a traveling worship team for two more years; and was a student, intern, and eventually media director in the local youth ministry WorshipArts over the course of six years. I was a busy guy!
During all that time, my relationship with God was stretched, tried, and strengthened immensely. However, in the fall of 2019, I knew I wanted something more. After much prayer and consideration, I chose to enroll in the Catch The Fire School of Ministry in Toronto, Canada for their 5-month “Heart Module.” The mission of the SoM is to lead their students to “encounter God, be transformed, and change the world,” and that’s precisely what I experienced. God rocked my world in many ways, but particularly in the areas of knowing the Father’s love, stepping into my Godly identity, and flowing in presence and power with the Holy Spirit.
After my time as a student, I was fortunate enough to be invited back to the School twice! First in 2020 for a yearlong internship as a small group leader (SGL), and second in 2021 for an additional year as a pastoral leader (PL).
As an SGL, I learned what it meant to lead a ministry in a hands-on, day-to-day operations role. I had a total of three different small groups in that time, and would often lead and coach the students in giving and receiving ministry. As a PL, I had the opportunity to train and lead the SGLs of the School of Ministry, as well as to manage some of the administrative side, such as coordinating events and handling various issues that might arise throughout the program.
In all this time, not only were my leadership skills and knowledge stretched and developed, but so was my relationship with God. I found that as I drew closer to Him, He drew closer to me. His heart and love for me wasn’t distant, but was active, present, and involved in my life. I discovered and experienced that no matter what is going on in life, He is there. He is able to help. And His love changes everything.
And all of this is what I want to bring to the youth of New Day and our surrounding neighborhoods. I am so excited to step into this new season with you all, to partner with God in this vision to equip our youth with a passion for faith, experience in moving and flowing with the Holy Spirit, knowledge of both the Scriptures and His presence, and relationship with God that provides the firm foundation for everything in our lives. This is going to be a journey, but God is going to be with us each step of the way, and I for one can’t wait to see everything He’s going to do through and in our youth.
It’s an honor to be serving in this role, and I look forward to all we’re going to do together.
Blessings and much love,
Lewis Wright