James Morrison is an Associate Pastor at Kensington Baptist Church in England.
When did you trust Christ?
I am not from a Christian family. I came to know the Lord through a friend at primary school who invited me to the local Anglican church in our rural town. I enjoyed the youth groups and continued to attend. After a year, I came to believe what I was being taught from the Bible. Namely, that I was a sinner who needed God's forgiveness, and this could only be received by trusting in Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross. I still remember how striking this message was to me. Coming to terms with the depths of my sin, despite what I had tried to impress on others, was a humbling experience.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
I was baptised around the age of 12, but backslid in my late-teenage years. I arrived at City Church in Birmingham by the encouragement of a Christian flatmate, where I sat under expository preaching and participated in weekly Bible studies. After a short time in Exeter finishing my legal training, my wife Helena and I moved to Bristol, where we settled at Kensington Baptist Church. At Kensington Baptist Church, I have received discipleship, dealt with particular sin issues, started to develop godly habits, and started to learn how to serve others in a local church setting.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I feel that I am at a bit of a crossroads in my ministry development. I hope to use Year-Round Mentoring to reflect on how to be most effective for the Gospel going forward, and to identify the leadership skills I need to grow in to do that. There are also a few situations that have arisen in our leadership in the last couple of years that I would appreciate having the space to process. I am vaguely aware of some of the lessons that I can learn, but I would appreciate help in clarifying them.
What is your ministry?
I am currently an Associate Pastor at Kensington Baptist Church, a diverse congregation located in a deprived part of Bristol. I am also a tutor for Crosslands Training on their seminary programme, and will soon begin lecturing for them. I am also studying for a PhD part-time with Union Theological College in Belfast. I also run events and Bible intensives for young people in Bristol and support other pastors and lay leaders in this region by running study days and training mornings to help them integrate theology with their ministries.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I used to work as a lawyer before training for ministry with Crosslands Training and have served on the pastoral staff of Kensington Baptist Church in Bristol since 2019.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I am committed to the health and growth of the local church, supporting other pastors and lay leaders as a pastor-theologian in their theological learning and ability to integrate this with their ministry. I have been struck by the number of church leaders who have described their struggles to do this, and I plan to use my time in the Emerging Leaders Programme to explore how I can develop this ministry across the South West of England and further afield.
