A MEETING WITH MOSES
Preamble:
I (Josiah) recently sat down with Moses about how he is feeling since being elected as the new Pastor of New City by the congregation. While we wait for the Presbytery of Eastern Canada for its final approval, I thought it would be a good time to sit down with Moses and hear a little bit of where he has come from as a pastor, and where we are going as a church. My hope is that you get some personal insight into who Moses is and his heart for our church.
Describe briefly who you and your family are.
I am a child of God, forgiven sinner, husband to Miranda, and father to three girls. Our girls’ names are Evangeline, Emmanuelle, and Alexandria. We also have a dog and a cat.
Who are some of the major influences in your life?
The most immediate and lasting influence has to be my parents. They’re the ones who raised me in a Christian home, who forced me to read and memorize scripture, and with whom I would worship daily in our home. They took me to church every Sunday and emphasized the importance of going to church every Sunday. I mean, that was formative and can’t be overlooked by any stretch of the imagination.
Who are some of your biggest Christian influences? (i.e. authors, pastors, professors)
In terms of my general theological formation, and to the shock of no one who knows me, the Puritans had a big influence. And I am not just sticking to the strict definition of “Puritan” but I’m also including people I would consider “modern-day Puritans” like J.I. Packer and John Stott. Other authors who opened my eyes to new ways of thinking are Alec Motyer, Derek Kidner, and Lesslie Newbigin. Among preacher-pastors, John Piper certainly helped shape some of my earlier preaching, and Tim Keller had a big influence on the way I think about cultural engagement.
But it was two PCA professors in my interdenominational seminary–namely, William Larkin and John Harvey–who had the biggest influence in what church tradition and denomination I wanted to be part of. They are a big part of why I am a PCA minister today.
What are some of your favourite fiction books (not LOTR and Narnia)
I was recently reminded (because our four-year-old has taken to “reading” all our books) of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. It was his first published novel, and it’s terribly irreverent, the humour is dark, and it is brutally honest, but it has stayed with me all these years. I think he expresses the despair of humanity when it lives without transcendent hope and tries to dispel that despair with humour. I’ve also read everything that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. has written. He’s most well-known for Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut is also an American writer who has a dark sense of humour. I guess I like that genre? I also like science fiction and fantasy, like the Dune novels by Frank Herbert.
You went to seminary at Columbia Biblical Seminary in South Carolina and spent some time serving in Georgia. What is a favourite memory about your time there?
My favorite memory of my time in South Carolina and Georgia was getting to know my future wife-to-be. We met halfway through my seminary education, and she changed my life! But other than my romantic pursuits, I honestly loved seminary. My seminary education really had a big, formative impact on my way of thinking, especially in helping me gain a global view of God’s mission. I grew in my understanding and appreciation of the gospel, prayer, and church ministry.
Being a youth pastor in Augusta, Georgia, helped me understand just how much I needed to learn and grow. I had never felt so weak and ineffective and needy. I was kind of thrown into the fire of youth ministry without much preparation; I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was largely unsupervised. It felt like I was just winging it all the time, and it did not always go well! On the bright side, I learned to preach week after week to a bunch of kids who had different degrees of interest in what I was saying, and that was an excellent learning experience. I just felt bad for those kids who had to endure some really subpar preaching.
How did you come to New City Hamilton and what was that transition like?
Our family moved to Hamilton in May of 2011. We made the decision to come to Hamilton after getting a call from New City at that time to help with some of the preaching, to help with the music, and administration. I wore many hats in my early days in New City.
Initially, I didn’t want to move to Hamilton; Toronto was my home, and Hamilton just felt like the backwaters and didn’t seem like an attractive place to live. But my mind changed after visiting Hamilton, guest preaching, helping lead music, meeting some of the people of New City, and learning a little bit more about the city. My heart started to soften towards Hamilton.
Miranda took to the city much more quickly, but I had to overcome some of my biases. But once we moved, it felt very natural. It quickly seemed like home. So yeah, we love Hamilton. We love our adopted home and making a life here.
Do you have a favourite memory involving the Kubliks?
There is no one particular event that stands out. Rather, it was the day-to-day, ordinary moments of camaraderie and partnership that I shared with Connan, where we came together to pray, seek the Lord’s face, talk, and brainstorm about ministry, discipleship, pastoring, and life in general. It was these everyday moments of gospel ministry that I enjoyed the most.
How are you doing in light of being elected as the senior pastor of New City?
The first week or two after the election, I definitely experienced some disorientation, moments where I thought, “What am I doing? Is this really happening? What did I get myself into? Do I know what I’m doing? I don’t think I do!”
But as I slowly move through this phase of disorientation and surrealism, my heart is primarily filled with two emotions: one, gratitude and two, feeling humbled. I just feel incredibly grateful that I get to serve our church and I feel incredibly humbled by the affirmation that I have received through our church.
I am slowly starting to feel a hopeful sense of anticipation for what the Lord has in store for our church for the next months and years. And I am excited to work with our Session and Staff to seek God’s face as we discern where we are and where He is leading us as a church.
How have you experienced God’s grace over the last 6 months?
I mentioned this in my writeup for the new year, but 2023 was largely characterized by uncertainty for me and my family. There were moments of anxiety, self-reflection, and doubt. There were moments of extended stress as I tried to do my part to help in moments of big changes. There were moments where I questioned my gifting, calling, and fitness to lead a church.
But through it all, God displayed his grace in many ways. There were moments when I felt incredibly supported and encouraged by kind people who took the time to check in and prayed for me. My wife and I both received many “votes of confidence” long before the actual voting took place. We are incredibly grateful for those who cared for us so well.
But we also learned a lot about just waiting, hoping, and trusting in the Lord. And that is something that I will take with me as we begin a new phase of our ministry here at New City. More than anything else, I need to keep learning to wait on the Lord, trusting that He is good, that He is all-powerful, and He will provide for me and for our church as He sees fit.
What have you grown to love about New City?
It goes without saying that the thing that I love most about New City is its people. That sounds obvious and it sounds like a truism, but the essence of New City is its people. I think we have a really unique and beautiful blend of people in our church. Some are incredibly gifted, incredibly smart, and incredibly successful leaders and visionaries who are very good at what they do. But we also have lots of people who come from very different arenas of life, who are just as important and just as near and dear to the heart of Jesus as anyone else.
So I love our people. I love where we are. I love our city-positive approach to cultural engagement. I love the fact that we are a church that’s so well-situated in the heart of the city, with so many opportunities to impact our city with the gospel.
I love our elders. I’ve said this many times, and I’ll keep saying it until it’s not true, but I think we have a really powerful blend of godly men with varying gifts and temperaments, who love our church, who love Jesus, and who love His Church. I love working with them. I love serving together with them. I love being under their accountability.
And I love our staff. We’ve gone through some big transitions over the last couple of years, but I love the current iteration of staff and I think we make a really good team. I really enjoy working with them and serving the Lord and his church together.
What kind of church would you like New City to become?
The elders are currently going through a process of learning and praying and examining our vision together, so it’s important that I don’t speak unilaterally. I can, however, affirm a couple of our existing core values that we will continue to promote and defend and strengthen for years to come:
First, we will continue to be a church that is characterized by gospel-centrality. The gospel of grace is the heart of our faith and community; it is the power of God that saves and unites us and animates our faith and practice. And as we build gospel culture, we must never compromise the historic confessions of the Christian church, but always seek to communicate the gospel in helpful ways to new generations and cultures. I want our church culture to be infused and characterized by the doctrines of grace.
Second, we will continue to be a church located in the city that is working for the good of the city. We will not flee the city, but embrace it, celebrate its beauties, grieve its brokenness, and pray and work for its flourishing through gospel transformation. To this end, I want to continue to build strategic and encouraging partnerships with other like-minded churches and organizations so that we can be more effective in our gospel mission to our church and beyond.
So much more can be said, but I will leave it there.
What are you looking forward to in this next year?
I look forward to a year of relatively stable gospel ministry with very few staffing changes.
I look forward to continuing to journey through the gospel of Mark as a church, to behold just how beautiful Jesus really is.
I look forward to meeting regularly with the Session to study Center Church by Tim Keller, as we pray and think through what it means for us to be an urban church in the center of the city.
I look forward to every Sunday morning to worship Jesus together with my brothers and sisters.
I look forward to learning and growing in my new role as Senior Pastor. Please, please pray for me and be patient with me as I learn and grow.
