Episode 111: Conversation with Curtis Meliefste (Part 1)
https://youtu.be/3knVx-xKpcQ
"This is not healthy, no matter which way you look at it. We're united around some things, but we're not on other things. We're pretending to be united around our confessions. But if you really wanna dig into what the Bible says about it, we just don't talk about it." -Curtis Meliefste
Summary of This Episode
Curtis Meliefste is a student at Calvin Seminary, married to his wife Nicole, and they have five children. He is currently not serving a church on a paycheck level, instead being what he calls a passionate parishioner at their local Christian Reform congregation in British Columbia. He talks about the freedom he has now to visit with their church family without having to worry about the church, though he knows it's only temporary. He also speaks about his experience as a youth pastor at Willoughby Christian Reformed Church and his time studying at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Curtis found the Pentecostal Bible College to be formative and valuable for their education. He also attended Princeton Seminary which was more conservative at the time and had a cohort of classmates with diverse training in youth ministry. He found relationships at Princeton to be highly formative and was exposed to teachers such as Andy Root and Kenda Creasy Dean. He still recommends reading Andy Root’s books on youth ministry and will be leading a book study on one of his books for local classes.
Andy Root's books have encouraged Curtis to focus on intentional relationships and discipleship with young people rather than just planning events and retreats. He encourages his youth leaders to view their role as spiritual friends, coming to youth group not to be "buddy-buddy" but to have conversations about the things of God. He also notes that while teaching is important, it should be balanced with fellowship and activities such as throwing dodgeballs. Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of having meaningful conversations with young people on a personal level.
In 2017, the Curtis moved from Edmonton, Alberta to Langley, British Columbia, and spent six years in full-time youth ministry. Throughout this period, he grew in confidence and developed strong relationships with teenagers, families, and his fellow minister Ed Gerber. In October 2020, he left due to God's providence and the high housing costs. Now he is able to study full-time for his M.Div.
We discuss the importance of having life experience before pursuing theological education and church ministry. Jason talks about his own experience working in a factory and running a business before becoming a pastor, which has been beneficial in connecting with his congregation, many of whom are blue-collar workers. He brings up the idea that pastors should spend some time in the real world before entering ministry and recalls his decision to attend Calvin Seminary after feeling he wouldn't relate to the people at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Eventually, we discuss how Curtis experienced being a youth pastor in a church with turmoil, specifically regarding the Human Sexuality Report. He shares his thoughts on unity within the Christian Reform Church despite disagreements over this issue.
We discuss how the division within the church often falls along modern political and theological lines. The main dividing line was the issue of human sexuality, which caused other issues to become polarized. This led to a loss of membership, senior pastor, and youth pastor in a span of six months. Curtis felt that conservative and progressive factions had their own worlds within the church without much unity around their confessional beliefs. The pastor tried to preach sermon series on God's design for our bodies but it didn't work for everyone.