The Pastorate Podcast

In today’s episode, Father Justin Huang invites us into his journey of faith, vocation, and pastoral ministry. From a teenage conversion to a long and costly discernment of priesthood, Father Justin reflects on the ways that God leads us through surrender, suffering, and trust into deeper freedom and joy.
Father Justin and Jason talk about the heart of Christian discipleship by exploring encounter with Jesus, dying to self in order to receive more of God, and the slow, patient formation of a life rooted in prayer. Father Justin shares honestly about exhaustion, panic attacks and the interior battles of ministry, while offering a hopeful vision for pastors who long to remain alive in Christ despite the weight of care, responsibility, and expectation. 
Together, Father Justin and Jason explore:
Father Justin’s teenage conversion and his journey toward a lifelong call to priesthood, shaped by fear, surrender, and learning to trust God,
The difference between surface-level happiness and the deeper peace that comes through obedience, encounter with Jesus, and costly discipleship,
Why encounter with Jesus must come before asking people to embrace costly discipleship,
Leading parish renewal by centering ministry on God’s mercy, presence, and love,
The unseen toll of ministry: exhaustion, panic, burnout, and learning to recognize early warning signs with honesty and humility,
How patterns of prayer, rule of life, retreat, and silence help pastors create space to receive God’s love without striving or proving.
Father Justin offers a generous window into the interior life of a pastor who has learned, often painfully, that holiness is not found in doing more for God, but in making space to receive more of Him. Whether you’re navigating ministry fatigue, discerning a call, or longing for deeper intimacy with Jesus, this conversation invites you to slow down, listen, and trust the Father’s patient work in your life.
Show Notes:
St. Anthony of Padua Parish — South Vancouver
Father Justin's Blog
Catholic Christian Outreach
The Liturgy of the Hours
The Examen Prayer (St. Ignatius of Loyola)
Partners
Special thanks to the Canadian Bible Society for making this episode possible. We invite you to explore their ⁠Bible Course⁠ to help your church grow in Scripture engagement.

In today’s episode, Jason sits down with Chris Dias of Hope Bible Church in Oakville, Ontario to discuss Chris’ journey from the corporate world into vocational ministry. Chris reflects on Hope Bible Church’s unique co-lead model, grounded in long-term friendship and clear “highest and best use” roles, and shares honestly about the joy and struggle of being a church committed to equipping and sending out ministers and church planters. Along the way, he highlights the importance of prayerful discernment and the courageous work of calling and forming leaders for the good of the local church.
Chris and Jason explore:
The story of Hope Bible Church and what God has done in the past 20 years,
Chris’ journey from bank executive and church elder to full-time vocational ministry, and what that discernment looked like over time,
Why Hope Bible Church shifted from a senior pastor model to a co-lead model, and the ingredients that make it work,
The burden of Matthew 9:38, praying earnestly for labourers, and how leadership development requires both prayer and courageous invitation,
The worthwhile cost of being a sending church: money, bandwidth, change, and the grief of releasing friends,
A framework for multiplication: conviction, culture, constructs, and why the Church needs all three.
Chris offers a grounded, hope-filled vision for pastors who feel the weight of leadership shortages, who long to develop future leaders with depth, and who want to build churches that both grow and send. If you’re trying to steward what God is doing without drifting into self-reliance, may this conversation renew your dependence on Jesus, expand your imagination for multiplication, and strengthen your courage to call leaders forward.
Show Notes
Hope Bible Church Oakville
Give to The Pastorate’s Year End Campaign
Emerging Leaders Lab Application
Spring Pastors Retreat
Partners
Contact John Wright at Generis for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church. 
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church⁠.

Five years into planting The Way Church in Vancouver and five years into The Pastorate, Jason steps into the guest chair to reflect on what he’s seeing in the Canadian church and what gives him real hope for pastors today. In this role-reversal episode, Jordan interviews Jason about his life as a local pastor, the story behind The Pastorate, and why he still wants to serve pastors as a practitioner, not a commentator.
Jordan and Jason talk about:
How Jason’s pastoral curiosity shapes the way he hosts the podcast and listens to guests,
Planting The Way Church during the pandemic and how that journey has run alongside The Pastorate’s first five years,
A concrete story of church revitalization through The Way’s “marriage” with Sutherland Church in North Vancouver, and what it meant for legacy, humility, and hope,
The current pastoral landscape in Canada: a shortage of pastors, but a deep hunger, especially among younger leaders, for character, depth, and a real life with God,
The power of small pastoral cohorts and friendships: sharing burdens, praying together, rejoicing and mourning with one another, as a key to staying in ministry for the long haul,
What’s next for The Pastorate: retreats, cohorts, city meetups, and the dream of a national gathering that centres on Jesus and the renewal of the church in Canada.
The episode ends with Jason speaking directly to pastors, a reminder that God’s kingdom is at hand, that shepherding a local church is costly and precious work, and that one day in the new creation, the unseen faithfulness of ordinary pastors and congregations will matter more than we can even begin to imagine.
Show Notes
Alex and Caleb’s Story | a film by The Pastorate
Aaron’s Story | a film by The Pastorate
The Way Church
The Way College
Give to The Pastorate’s Year End Campaign
Emerging Leaders Lab Application
Partners
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠give⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.
Special thanks to the Canadian Bible Society for making this episode possible. We invite you to explore their ⁠Bible Course⁠ to help your church grow in Scripture engagement.

Nestor Abdon is a Filipino-Canadian pastor serving as Global & Local Outreach Pastor at Bramalea Baptist Church in Brampton, Ontario. Having ministered among newcomers, refugees, and diaspora churches across Canada, Nestor carries a deep passion for hospitality, multicultural mission, and the vital contribution of diaspora communities to the life and future of the church in Canada.
In this conversation, Nestor traces his journey from growing up in the Philippines to arriving in Canada in 2010, pastoring within a Filipino church, serving at a refugee centre, and eventually leading newcomers and diaspora ministries at large churches in the Toronto area. His life and ministry have been shaped by the conviction that migration is not just a social reality but a biblical lens, that God is gathering the nations in Canadian cities, and that welcoming newcomers is central to the church’s participation in the gospel today.
Together, Nestor and Jason explore:
How Nestor’s own experience as a newcomer to Canada shaped his pastoral calling among immigrants, refugees, and international students,
Practical ways churches can embody hospitality, through ESL programs, settlement partnerships, shared meals, and newcomer fellowships,
The importance of a listening posture and intercultural competence in majority-culture churches, rather than rushing to fix problems without hearing people’s actual needs,
The unique role and strengths of diaspora and ethnic monocultural churches within the wider “gospel ecology” of Canadian cities,
How majority-culture churches can move diaspora leaders from the margins to the centre, offering real voice, leadership, and shared decision-making,
The tensions and possibilities of first and second generation dynamics, and why second-generation immigrants can serve as “cultural bridges” for the church,
What it means to contextualize the gospel across cultures and why diaspora Christians give Nestor deep hope for the future of the church in Canada.
Nestor speaks with warmth and a reflective wisdom formed in the overlap of the academy and local church. His story invites pastors to see their city as a global mission field, to make room for diaspora leaders at the table, and to embrace the beautiful, diverse foretaste of Revelation 7 that God is already bringing to life in Canada.
Show Notes
Nestor’s Book: Marginality of Visible Minorities in Canada
Jason Georges Book: The 3d Gospel
Bramlea Baptist Church
Give to The Pastorate’s Year End Campaign
Lead Pastor Fellowship Application
Emerging Leaders Lab Application
Partners
Contact John Wright at Generis for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church.

In today’s episode, Derrick Miller invites us into the story of Makers Church in San Diego and the co-vocational calling that’s shaped his life as both pastor and firefighter. Derrick shares how a surprising “church marriage” with a 100-year-old congregation, neighborhood change, and a multi-million-dollar building renovation have forced him and his team to slow down, listen carefully to the Spirit, and rethink what sustainable leadership actually looks like. Along the way, he offers a lived picture of priesthood-of-all-believers, where every follower of Jesus is sent into their workplace, street, and city as a full participant in God’s mission.
In this conversation Jason and Derrick talk about:
The origin story of Makers Church and how Derrick’s firefighter calling shaped their co-vocational model,
How a young church plant “married” a 100-year-old congregation, and inherited a spiritual legacy, not just a building,
How neighbourhood change and selling church-owned homes opened the door for new mission and a major renovation,
The shift from pastor-led decisions to communal discernment, elder leadership, and governance that reflects real church life,
Why co-vocational ministry is about more than budgets and how it reframes staffing, power, and how we view congregants as sent ones,
Practical ways pastors can affirm everyday work as mission and equip people to live as the church where they live, work, and play.

Derrick offers a hopeful and grounded vision for pastors wrestling with limited resources, changing neighbourhoods, and questions about what’s next for their church. Whether you’re leading in a rented gym, renovating a century-old sanctuary, or simply tired of feeling like everything depends on you, may this conversation expand your imagination, ease some pressure, and help you see your people, and their everyday work, as central to the kingdom story God is writing in your city.

Show Notes
⁠Makers Church – San Diego, CA⁠ 
⁠Lead Pastor Fellowship Application⁠
⁠Emerging Leaders Lab Application⁠

Partners
We couldn’t do the work we do at The Pastorate without your generous support. We invite you to pray, share, and ⁠⁠give⁠⁠ towards seeding a hope-filled future for the Canadian church.
Contact ⁠John Wright at Generis⁠ for help cultivating a culture of generosity in your church.