Dear Bethel Family,

Today is my first day as an employee of Bethel Bible Chapel. It is such an honor, privilege, and blessing to be given the opportunity to serve this Church, this city, and our God in this way. The encouragement and prayers I have received from you over the past few days, weeks, months, and years humble me. Many of you know me and know my family, but I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself to the Bethel family formally and to give you some insight into my testimony and ministry passions. If we have not met I hope that I will get to meet you on a more personal level and walk with you in pursuit of the joys of God in Jesus Christ soon.

Biography:

A short biographical introduction may be in order so you can place me demographically in your mind. I am a Saulite, born, and raised. The Sarlo family consists of Andrew and Jennifer, my parents, and my sister Gabrielle. I am blessed to have added to that family Esther, my wife, since 2016.

We came to Bethel in March 2003 and I have been involved in many ministries over the years: Darren’s worship team, Awana, youth group, and ABK. It was at Bethel where I began to learn what it meant to be a member of the body of Christ, serving and being served. I wouldn’t have the same joy in leading music today without the encouragement and teaching of Darren in getting me (maybe letting me) on that stage with my blue Jackson Kelly guitar (Google it, it was ridiculous!).

The gap in my Sault life starts when I started my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BBA) at Wilfred Laurier University. It was there I started to develop my gift more and where I first felt God’s call on my life to pursue Pastoral ministry. I was involved with Power to Change on Laurier’s campus and in the ministry of the Churches I attended while at school. This gave me a taste of what a career as a Church staff might look like.

It was also during this time that I met a young lady named Esther Tsui, from Markham, ON. We began dating in my final year at Laurier. We got engaged in May 2015 and married in Cambridge, ON in August 2016 moving into an apartment in Kitchener, ON.

After my bachelor’s degree, I wanted to pursue formal theological education. I hummed and hawed over several schools in Canada and the US, but settled on McMaster Divinity College on the campus of McMaster University. It was (and is) an evangelical institution that allowed me to serve within the Church I was committed to in Cambridge, ON: Trinity Bible Chapel (then called Harvest Bible Chapel Waterloo Region). I am so thankful for the elders and pastoral staff of Trinity Bible Chapel for their commitment to love the body of Christ and pursue God’s glory in obeying his word in everything they do. Pastor Jacob Reaume and the staff at Trinity are perhaps the most formative influences on my ministry and Christian walk aside from my parents.

In 2019, Esther and I decided to leave the Waterloo region to move closer to our family in Sault Ste. Marie. This was a hard decision to make, but we felt then, and still feel today, God’s blessing and guidance in bringing us here. God had plans for us and today we start a new chapter of serving God and his Church at Bethel Bible Chapel.

Ministry Convictions:

Now that you know a little more about who I am I think it is also important to give you a little insight into my worldview when it comes to serving Bethel in this ministry capacity. I am still growing in my experience and expression of the convictions listed below but I think it is important for you to know the lens, through which I view my role as a Pastor of this Church.

Equipping the Saints:

Ephesians 4:11-12

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

In Christ, we are all one. No Christian claims greater standing than another in the Kingdom of God. We are all sinners saved by grace alone, members of one body. The role of ministry and Church leaders is to rally those members and help them thrive. I want to equip the members of the Church of Jesus Christ at Bethel Bible Chapel to use the individual gifts God has given them to serve each other, this city, and our Triune God. It is that simple. I am not here as a priest to serve God on your behalf, I am a fellow worshipper whose task it is to help you worship as God designed you. I want to remind, teach, encourage, and serve each of you with the gifts I have been given by God.

Preach the Word:

2 Timothy 4:1-2

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

My content and context for equipping the saints for ministry will be the Word of God as revealed in the Bible and, ultimately, in the revealed Word of God, Jesus Christ. Any authority, any correction, any encouragement, any exhortation I have must be from the mind and mouth of God if it is going to be true and eternal. One of my true joys at Bethel is to preach and teach the word of God from the pulpit, in the youth ministry, and in conversations with you. What is explicit in God’s word I will be stubborn on. Anything that God leaves us to wisely discern I will navigate in light of the whole counsel of God, to the best of my ability and knowledge. I have nothing to say to you that is of any value if it is not made holy by the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:5). God has given us a good and perfect word, preserved for us in the Bible, and I intend to spend my days as your Pastor learning and communicating the words of God. I hope we will grow together in our knowledge and experience of God in his word.

Keeping Watch:

One of the primary roles of the Pastor in the bible is to keep watch. Pastors are shepherds, keeping an eye out for anything that would threaten the sheep whether that is a wolf or a wounded sheep within the fold. I want to care for the Church of God. I grew up in this Church and I care deeply for you all. Even when I was away in southern Ontario for the past 10 years I always thought, “Bethel would love this song.” or “I would love to preach this passage at Bethel.” You have been in my prayers for a long time. I am humbled and emboldened by this opportunity to grow in my compassion, my listening, my care, and my loving in Christ. The Holy Spirit is working on all of us in seasons of plenty and seasons of wanting. I love my Church and I want to pay attention to what God is doing in it as well as what the enemy will try to do to break us apart.

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and trust in this next chapter. Please continue to pray for Esther and I as we adjust and grow in this season. Looking forward to being together with you all soon, even if that means in glory. Come, Lord Jesus Come.

Now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. – 2 Thessalonians 3:16