Milissa Ewing on Discovering Her Call to Preach, Discerning Big Decisions With Your Family, and Stepping Into Indigenous Reconciliation as a Church
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Milissa Ewing became the Lead Pastor of Redwood Park Church in 2021. In this week’s episode with Jason, she shares about her journey of coming to faith and the moments that led to her accepting that role in Thunder Bay and moving her family across the country.
Growing up Catholic, Milissa says she was familiar with ideas of God, but never had a relationship with Jesus until university when she was invited to a campus faith group. Over time, while studying to become an elementary school teacher, she also came to follow Jesus and eventually moved away for a season to experience missions in a new country.
When she returned, she continued to teach. She tells Jason about the times in school when they would visit residential schools and how that was challenging for her to always process with her mixed heritage. Her father was Indigenous and mother European, but they moved from their reserve when she was younger as her father wanted to provide better opportunities for them. As a teacher, she felt compelled to teach in communities where she could support Indigenous kids, but her own sense of calling and identity in it was still unsettled.
Her husband was pastoring at a church and one day she was approached about stepping into a Family Pastor role. She was hesitant, but sensed an inkling to pursue it. Eventually, this led to her having opportunities to preach, which she discovered to be a deep passion and sense of calling around. As her husband, who is gifted more as a shepherd, and her considered their future, they desired roles where they could both step into their wirings and what they believed God had called them to. This resulted in them moving to Thunder Bay this past year with their family so Milissa could teach and be the Lead Pastor at Redwood, while her husband joined as a spiritual formation pastor.
As a church geographically surrounded by numerous Indigenous communities, they have a desire to pursue both reconciliation within their church and to then bring that beyond their walls to the community around them. Milissa is leaning into both her heritage and experiences as a teacher to now lead her church through this important work. They are already seeing God moving to transform lives and are excited for what he might do in the years ahead.
Thanks again to Milissa for joining us! We hope you enjoy this conversation.
Milissa Ewing
Milissa is the Lead Pastor at Redwood Park Church in Thunder Bay, ON. She is passionate about preaching God's Word, seeing men & women grow into the people God made them to be, and embracing the Church's call to engage in God's ministry of reconciliation.
Milissa is a graduate of The University of British Columbia, Arrow Leadership, and finishing her studies at Tyndale Seminary. She loves spending time with her husband, Jay, and two daughters. In her free time, you will find Milissa painting, reading, trail running, skiing, swimming in lakes, or cycling.