Pastor, in light of your 20 years of service, I’d like to say a few words

In August 2001, pastor Scott Jarrett took over a small church, consisting of a little less than 15 people in Golden, Colorado, leaving a promising and lucrative career field behind. Over the next several years, under The Great Shepherd’s guiding hand, Pastor would lead this church through several geographical changes, as we moved to a strip mall, then to a downtown location, back to “the little yellow church” and finally to this building we are in now. God used those moves to bring many of you into this body, who are still here today.

During those many years and many moves, Pastor has faced many challenges. He has been lied to, betrayed, slandered, questioned, and accused of being a cult leader. He has faced hard decisions, and situations, dealing with all of our problems. Pastor has dealt with subversive members, wolves attempting to steal others in the flock away. He has demonstrated boldness in facing those wolves in person and has defeated them, through the use of God’s word. He has demonstrated creative thinking, critical thinking, and the ability to adapt and change when he sees things in the Bible that don’t line up with current practice(EG changing toward paedobaptism and steering away from Calvinism).

Pastor has demonstrated an incredible work ethic. Pastor has worked tirelessly, over 20 years to study, to know the Bible, and to know it intimately. Using some rough estimations, I conservatively calculated over the 20 years Pastor has studied the Bible, commentaries, or offered practical counsel between 41,600-62,400 hours. He has worked through sickness, he has stood up here and preached to you while he was sick, tired, not feeling well, not feeling up for it. He has spent long hours wrestling with theology, until he was able to see how God’s word made it, like he likes to say, “lie down.” Pastor has been there for us when we needed him, at all hours of the day or night, whether it was a death in our family, a family crisis, or just a phone call to talk something through. Pastor has faithfully exemplified not giving in to his feelings, but instead, doing what needs to be done to get God’s job done.

By the way, did you know the average tenure of a senior pastor at a church is between 3-4 years? Under much less stringent and stressful conditions than what we know is required, and yet pastor has served this church for 20 years.

Not only does Pastor study the word, but he has made, and continues to make genuine efforts to get to know the people in this body. This requires intentional fellowship, spending time with others always having his mind turned on and tuned to what is being said, and asking intentional questions of others. He must not only ask these questions but then he also has to retain the information provided by those questions. And he does it better than anyone I’ve ever known.

As I was reflecting on Pastor’s service to us, it really hit me how well Pastor has fulfilled what Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim 4:

[1] I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. [3] For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4] and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. [5] As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Pastor has absolutely taught us the word, whether it was popular or not, not just in the world’s eyes but in many of the people who physically sat in these seats! He has rebuked us, reproved us, exhorted us, and he does it with extreme patience. He has demonstrated soberness in his ministry, taking it very seriously, and he has endured suffering as a result.

Pastor Scott Jarrett has pastored with loyalty, faithfulness, tough love, and has proved himself to be the most competent pastor we know. He is one of a kind, and I am very very grateful for what he has done for this body; for Christ’s bride, the church. As a token of our gratitude for helping us get this far, Pastor, and to commemorate your 20 years, two decades, of service to Christ and His church, the congregation of Christ Covenant Church would like to present you with these stoles.