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By Jack Krayenhoff
COLWOOD Pentecostal Church has thrived under the
leadership of Al Funk, who arrived in 1988 to be the senior pastor.
At that time, there were about 140 worshippers on
Sunday; now, on some Sundays, there are as many as 640. When Funk started,
the staff consisted of him and a secretary; now there are 10 people on
staff.
The church is, of course, strategically positioned in
the Western Communities, the fastest growing part of Victoria; and it has a
parking lot which would make most downtown churches drool.
 | Colwood Pentecostal pastor Al Funk |
But that cannot be the whole story. BCCN asked Funk to reveal the
secrets of this success story.
Colwood Pentecostal, he says, “has always been a
church for families, and it still is.”
Another key is the current staff. “We have a
successful youth program that is run by Ira Parmenter – a great youth
pastor. I hesitate to give you his name, because I don’t want anyone
to steal him away from us. His wife Rochelle runs an excellent
children’s program. Recently, we added Nathan Rogers to work with
young families. We hope to develop classes for parenting and for marriage
relationships.”
Sunday worship is also oriented toward a younger crowd.
“The music is loud,” he admits. “It’s not for
everybody. We try to fit in at least one conventional hymn –
but even that is set to a more contemporary tune.”
The church, Funk emphasizes, “has a good DNA. It
was started in 1974 by people who attended the downtown Pentecostal church,
Glad Tidings, but lived in Colwood. They had a vision to plant a church in
their own community, to reach the people who lived around them.”
Unity of purpose, he says, was crucial to a good
beginning. “The Glad Tidings leadership gave them its blessing and
support, and the church was started. A healthy vision produces healthy
churches – while churches that start out of splits [and] division,
keep division in their DNA.”
Vision continues to be important. “When people
know ‘this is what we want to accomplish,’ it helps them to fit
in and work together in harmony. The thing is to keep rallying the people
around the vision.”
Funk does not see himself as a charismatic figure.
“The days of the one strong, inspiring leader are past,” he
believes.
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“Today, it is more a question of harnessing the
gifts that so many people bring. I am not a man who wants to – or can
– do everything himself, anyway. I need all the help I can
get.
“Somebody once told me, ‘I appreciate that
you don’t lead us to the edge of a precipice and then say, ‘Oh
no, this is not the right direction!’ I’m a plodder. Nothing
spectacular – just quiet, steady growth.”
Something that helps Funk personally, as well as the
church, is that he has gone back to school; he is only one course away from
his master’s degree. “It is not about the degree, but
about studying, learning, keeping fresh – about personal growth. I
believe that as long as I keep growing, the church will keep
growing.”
Is he content with the way things are going? Yes and
no.
He is grateful for the remarkable things God has done
– for the consistent growth of the church, including regular
conversions. Yet, he senses there is much more to come.
“I’m 56 now, but I don’t expect to
slow down. In fact, things seem to be accelerating.” He refers to the
possibility of acquiring a property to build a larger building. But it
would not be a church only; there could also be a facility for
seniors’ assisted living, and maybe also one for special needs
living.
“We are in the very early stages of planning and
we would build and operate it in partnership with people and organizations
who are experienced in providing such care.”
He concludes, “The potential is so big, I can
hardly wrap my mind around it.”
And that is how growth happens.
October 2008
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