By Cecelia Campbell Livingston
Pastor Paul Blake was driven to serve as a shepherd because of his love for counselling. In a one-on-one interview with Freedom Come Rain Newspaper, he said that when he surrendered his life to Christ in 1998, he decided that being a minister was a way of pursuing his passion for counselling.
Acknowledging that he has always been good at helping people navigate life, he shared that he knew he would eventually want to be a counsellor full-time.
“I love ministry, but my passion for serving people is really in the area of counselling,” he affirmed.
Charged with the responsibility of overseeing the spiritual well-being of his flock, he stated that the most difficult part of ministry is understanding how complex people are.
“I believe sometimes we forget that all of us are works in progress, and so we need to temper our expectations of each other. Even as ministers, we tend to forget that the church is like a hospital where sin-sick people come to find out how to become whole for God’s service. Like a real-life shepherd, we are responsible for all kinds of sheep, and we have to treat each one differently depending on the needs they have. We have to do this also bearing in mind that we too are mere humans trying to please a great God, and we can’t shepherd people without being willing to allow God to shepherd our own lives,” he shared.
Blake is currently not serving as a minister but is working closely with the Old Harbour Church of Christ in a leadership role. In the past, he also worked with the South Central Church of Christ in May Pen, Clarendon, for over 10 years and the Independence City Church of Christ in Portmore, St. Catherine, for more than five years.
With the church focused on evangelism, benevolence, education, marriage, and family, among other ministries, Pastor Blake has his hands full.
Thankfully for him, he has a good support system.
He is thankful for the support his wife Racquel gives, as, according to him, he would not have survived for so long and been as committed without it.
“She has been there through it all, the good and bad times. I strongly believe that for any minister to have a successful ministry, having a godly, loving, and understanding spouse is important. A ministry that pleases God is not a glorified position; it comes with many heartaches and difficult situations, and your spouse can either make or break your ministry,” he proffered.
He also expressed gratitude for the ‘great people’, which include immediate family and friends, he has ‘behind, beside, and in front’ giving him the encouragement and support he needs.
If there is one concern he has regarding the church, it is the fact that they have lost their focus entirely. Pointing out that the church has become more about maintaining a business model than saving souls, he stressed that leaders are more interested in doing whatever it takes to attract more people to keep the cash flowing than making faithful disciples for God.
“Ministers, pastors, and whatever we are calling ourselves these days are willing to violate every aspect of scripture just to keep people entertained instead of being obedient. I know I am sounding critical, but what we have today, which we identify as the church that Jesus died for, is far from what God intended. The church has become more of a social club serving the desires of selfish people than saving broken people. The only way this can be fixed is by going back to the scriptures and applying them the way God intended (2 Timothy 3:16–17),” he imparted.
As much as he is involved in ministry and other activities, Pastor Blake said there is one thing he ensures, and that is making sure there is valuable time for his family. “I make sure I give more of my time and attention to my family life, and then the church benefits. I have seen many ministers build great churches and lose their families, and God never intended this to happen. The church is compared to a family, which signifies that families are important to God,” he noted.
When he is not engaged in church work, Pastor Blake turns his attention to a mentorship programme that he runs called AMEN (Advancing through Mentorship, Empowerment, and Nurturing), where he does motivational presentations. His most recent was for the Jamaica Money Market Brokers Foundation Conversation for Greatness Conference. He also runs Words Worthit Motivational Speaking and Training Co. Ltd., Words Worthit Publishers, and Word of Hope Counselling Service.