Minister discipling members to make meaningful engagement
He’s preached from Papua New Guinea to India to Russia, but like the One about whom he speaks, Pr Justin Lawman began his adult life as a tradie. He worked as the foreperson of a construction crew building stormwater and sewerage systems on the Sunshine Coast until, encouraged by his church minister, Pr Geoff Donovan, Lawman presented a sermon that would change his life’s focus. “Geoff asked me to preach and then told me to go to college,” Lawman says. “But the Holy Spirit was really the biggest influence.”
Lawman, the first in his family to complete tertiary education, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Theology) in 1996. He interned at the Seventh-day Adventist churches in Coffs Harbour and in Dorrigo before moving to Maclean and Grafton, the church at which he became an ordained minister in 2000. Calls to Port Macquarie, Camden Haven and Telegraph Point followed. In 2005, Lawman and his family—wife Wendy and children Monica and Caleb—moved to Los Angeles (California, USA), where he ministered at the Community Adventist Fellowship.
On his return in 2008, Lawman accepted the role of Director of Personal Ministries for the Adventist Church in northern New South Wales. He became president in 2011.
One of Lawman’s priorities as president: investing in people. The discipleship training program UR Church, which launched in February, is popular. The program aims to create healthier churches. Small groups play a significant role. “I would love the church in North New South Wales to experience real kingdom growth and to engage meaningfully with those in the community.” The investment seems to be working—giving at the church’s annual convention broke records.
The Class of 1996 honours Pr Justin Lawman for leading a church that is passionate about reaching the unchurched.
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