Brandon Richardson on Building Friendships With Other Pastors & His Heart For Small Towns in Canada
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Brandon Richardson, Lead Pastor of Slate Church in Waterloo joins Jason in today’s episode. Alongside his wife Emma, Brandon helped to lead a university ministry called The Embassy prior to Slate church, and he shares with Jason about how that birthed a love for the region of Waterloo with its high number of tech workers and aspiring young grads. Over time though, he also started to see the challenges of leading young adults into a committed church family with their structure and he began dreaming of a more intergenerational role to pastor in.
This led them to launch a church out of that ministry that has become Slate Church today. Brandon shares about the journey of growing in self-awareness, learning from mistakes, and trusting God to use willing and humble people for His work. He references the Parable of the Talents and the idea that we need both a closed fist that takes hold of the responsibility God has given us and also an open hand to remember we are just stewarding for a season what God has called us to.
Jason and Brandon also give some insight into a pastoral cohort they are both in that started a few years back with two other pastors in Canada. The four of them would call each month to pray, share about where they were at in ministry, and to encourage or challenge each other when needed. Part of the beauty for them was the diversity of contexts and experiences they each came from that spurred on new learnings not as commonly found in their familiar circles. Part of their hope in sharing their experience is that it could encourage other pastors in Canada to initiate cohorts with leaders from other churches and cities or provinces to build unity and to stir up one another in love.
Brandon ends by sharing some of his heart for smaller towns in our country and the need for vibrant and healthy churches to stay and also enter into their communities. They often bring unique factors, like Waterloo’s mix of university students and technology companies mixing with Mennonites and farming communities, but they’re filled with people who Jesus loves and wants to reach.
We hope you can be encouraged today as you listen to this conversation.
Brandon Richardson
Brandon is passionate about seeing individuals transformed and empowered by the love of God. He met his wife Emma in 2008 and, after several years of long-distance dating, chose to attend Redeemer University College together. In 2012 they got married and finished their undergraduate degrees in 2014. They have pastored Slate Church for seven years now and continue to feel desperate in their pursuit to see and walk alongside people as they come alive in Christ and experience His grace. They call Waterloo home and enjoy life with their three kids, Kenzington, Claire and Theo.