An Update from Apprentice Jordan Abbott
The Abbott family. Jordan and Sarah have been married 11 years and have 4 kids: Beniah (7), Davis (5), Miles (3), and Abigail (10months).
Jordan Abbott is in an apprenticeship role at Capstone Church in Calgary, Alberta. During this time, he is developing skills and discerning the next steps to lead an innovative new expression of the body of Christ in Calgary.
When Jordan began to hear God calling him to something new, he was a full time engineer. In 2013, he had a powerful encounter with Jesus where he was called into ministry. The moment he chose to say yes, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and experienced a miraculous physical and emotional healing. God was showing Jordan that He provides.
Affirmed by leaders who also trusted God, Jordan took a role as a pastor at Westlife Church in 2014. God taught him a lot about trusting him in the midst of change. God was pouring his spirit into Jordan, changing him and growing him, and Jordan began to feel a desire for more. He shares:
“When I began to feel drawn towards the idea of New Ventures it had a lot to do with church forms. It probably has something to do with my background in engineering and my overactive left-brain that needs to know how stuff works. Going from attending a church to working at a church was like lifting up the hood of the car to see how it all works. Westlife was a great church, like many Alliance churches that I grew up attending in Saskatchewan and Alberta.”
What started as critical thinking about church forms, transformed into a deep longing and aspiration for more. Jordan longed to bring people together who were sold out on building their lives around Jesus in community together. A place where the healing, uniting, loving presence of Christ was palpable. A place where Jesus showed up and “created an ambience so warm and inviting that others around couldn’t help stay.”
Jordan and his wife Sarah continued to explore this dream by attending Exponential and the Envision Conference. Envision gave Jordan missional language about the church that resonated deeply with him. He spent some time in discussion with New Ventures implementer, Andy Lambkin, who affirmed Jordan’s ideas and new approach to ministry.
Jordan and Sarah experienced God’s leading like a GPS. As they sought to follow his will, occasionally He said He was “rerouting” them. The destination had been new ventures, but the road to get there has been winding and filled with both roadblocks and confirming signs (like a miraculous flock of birds... but that’s a whole other story). All along, front and centre has been an invitation from Jesus to step out of the boat and trust that faith will be enough to make us stand.
In 2019, in another unexpected course correction and open door, Jordan returned to engineering part time and later took a position as a church planting apprentice at Capstone Church. He is currently working towards planting a new community bivocationally.
Jordan has now been at Capstone for 8 months and already God is giving him prophetic vision from Ezekial 47 for the community that is going to take shape under his leadership. He has learned that when God wants to do something, you don’t have to know the ‘how’ (which is hard for an engineer!) you just have to obey His calling and He will make the way.
We cannot wait to see how God continues to unfold this story in Jordan’s life!
Excited by what God is doing through Jordan and his apprenticeship?
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Pray for him.
For discernment as God leads him further into plans for a new church community in Calgary
For opportunity to share Jesus in relationships around him
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