Growing up, Jarrod only thought about Jesus in the context of Christmas and Easter, viewing Him as a holiday character rather than a real figure. He held this belief for most of his life and would have previously described himself as an atheist. However, once he began attending Special Religious Education (SRE), he realised that God was, in fact, real and started to reflect on his life choices.
Jarrod spent the next two years trying to better himself, believing that he needed to be perfect in order to gain God’s approval. When he finally attended a youth group, he heard the gospel preached and learned about Jesus’ forgiveness of sins once for all.
“That’s where I became Christian, when I actually finally heard the gospel message and the salvation we have in Christ,” he shares.
Connecting with PYNSW
Fast forward to Jarrod’s adult years, he studied at Christ College and began full-time ministry as a Youth Minister in Presbyterian churches in Sydney’s south.
This was where Jarrod was first introduced to PYNSW.
Initially, Jarrod’s involvement was minimal, but he was supportive. It wasn’t until a few years later, when he began working at Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church that Jarrod was asked to join the PY Committee.
Shortly after Jarrod was asked to speak at PY Summer Camp in 2022 as the scheduled speaker was unable to attend due to COVID lockdowns.
“I’m like, sure. Okay. I’ll see if I can figure that one out and I did, and I went there, and I thought this is the best camp I’ve ever been on!” he said.
“Considering also that PYNSW had only about a month to pivot and make the camp happen in a different way than originally planned, I was like, wow, that’s incredible. So I was really impressed with PY Summer Camp, and then I just became a PYNSW fanatic.”
After that first camp experience, Jarrod became fully committed to supporting and being a part of PYNSW. He labelled himself a “very big supporter of it,” adding that he thinks the ministry they do is “fantastic”.
“I think PY Summer Camp is one of the best camps I’ve ever seen as far as just a great balance of stuff on camp – the talks, the quiet times and relationships between the kids.”
Representing PYNSW
Following that first PY Summer Camp, Jarrod soon found himself in a Zoom meeting where he was being asked to step up as a PY Representative.
As part of the role of a PY Representative, Jarrod is responsible for looking after the Northern Inland region of NSW Presbyterian churches and youth groups. Many churches in this region have ageing populations and small youth groups, if any. However, Jarrod has been particularly encouraged by the churches that have growing youth populations and congregations.
“It’s been mostly trying to have a few conversations with local churches as far as their idea of trying to get some youth groups going, as well as very much heavily trying to promote the PY Summer Camp,” he said.
One of the ways he hopes to engage with the youth in the region is through a regional PY camp.
“The one thing we’re really hoping to get going this year is a regional PY camp in this area, and a few churches are really keen on jumping on that. There’s probably enough kids that you can get a decent one happening. Everyone’s excited to get going and see how it goes,” he shared.
Jarrod would love prayer for the Presbyterian churches in the Northern Inland region as they work towards putting on a camp closer to the end of the year. Please also pray for the churches that don’t have youth groups or many youth in attendance. Pray that in God’s kindness he would build up these churches and youth groups so people may come to know, and have salvation in Christ.
