Corey Huard : My Leadership Pathway

[Quad City in Prescott, Arizona was the 2nd church that ever partnered with us. We are indebted to Jason Price, Brendan Krismer & their entire team for being early adopters! We have all been learning together. They are recruiting for resident #3! — Lp]

My journey toward leadership began my junior year of high school with volunteering in the middle school youth group and participating on a number of mission trips, too. I was not sure of what I wanted to do after graduating, but slowly, God nudged me towards ministry until I realized I wouldn’t be content in any other profession.

I serve as an Associate Resident of Prescott Valley’s campus at my home church, QuadCity Christian Church in Prescott, AZ. I actually had applied for a pastoral role upon graduating from Crown College in Minnesota and doing a semester-long internship at a church nearby. I did not receive the role, though, due to a lack of ministry experience. Our Executive Pastor mentioned that they would be interested in taking me on as a resident, however, and that is how I got connected to Leadership Pathway, as well.

My expectations coming into the residency were simply that I would learn through real ministry experiences, where I could be contributing to the church while still soaking up as much as possible.

The most difficult part was and continues to be defining my role and my responsibilities. I am eager to jump in and be as helpful as I can, so sometimes it can be difficult when the team is not entirely sure of how to utilize a resident. I suppose it’s a learning curve for everyone.

I have loved building relationships, having meaningful conversations, along with offering pastoral care that includes visits, membership and baptism conversations, prayer requests, as well as just helping them plug into groups or service opportunities. These are all centered on helping people become better disciples of Jesus.

I have to say that I dislike the slow days. There have been days, especially when I started that there just wasn’t much for me to do. During those times, I felt like I wasn’t contributing as much as I could be or that I wasn’t making much of a difference. Those days have occurred less and less, though, as my role has developed, and I’ve started taking on my own responsibilities.

For those leaders kicking around the idea of residency, they should definitely do this at their churches. I would also say that it is most beneficial to the church and to the resident if there are clear roles and responsibilities laid out for them.

I love what I’m getting to do. It is so great doing ministry every day, and this experience has definitely strengthened my confidence in my calling. There have been some difficult times, but nothing has felt impossible or too overwhelming. I think a big factor in that is that my supervisors do a great job of making sure I am equipped and prepared to be successful.