Growing in God's grace

Associate Pastors

 

Rev. Kimberly S. Lamb

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Rev. Kimberly S. Lamb - Pastor Kim Lamb sees her ministry is to encourage, teach, lead, pray over and pray for members of the North Raleigh UMC congregation and to set an example. “Ministry is about people. We love the people of God. We are invested in the people of God,” says Pastor Lamb. Describing that ministry, she says: “I see a picture of people in worship and ministry. I see a picture of people doing both with all their hearts. You can see it written on their faces.”

Mission trips are a big part of her ministry and show how ministry is enriched. From one mission trip she sees the picture of someone on a swing talking to a little girl the team met on the trip.

“He put down the hammer and sat and talked to the girl. I tied that to seeing him standing in Souljourn with all his family singing with all his heart,” she said. That picture summarizes Pastor Kim’s ministry: helping commit people to God through compassionate worship and tying them to passionate ministry themselves.

“For me,” she says, the rhythm of a Christ-centered life is to “worship God on Sunday, get recharged for the rest of the week and then comeback the next week in a sense of awe and gratitude of what God has done through the week. We want to praise Him.”

She has been interested in missions since high school. In addition to leading local, regional and foreign mission trips, Pastor Kim is the guiding force behind the successful Souljourn contemporary service. “I can’t imagine being passionate in worship on Sunday and not doing something about it during the week.”

She sees a large number of outreach programs as a key element in the growth of NRUMC. “A church that does nothing should expect nothing,” she says. NRUMC is invested not only in the church, but is invested in the mission of Jesus Christ, says Pastor Kim. “We use the organization, but our focus is people. Let us remember who we are about.”

Click here to download audio of Kim's sermons.

Rev. Brian Gentle

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Rev. Brian Gentle - Helping adults discover God’s destiny for their lives and helping them connect their faith with the realities of life are goals of the ministry of Dr. Brian Gentle at NRUMC. The church’s Pastor of Discipleship, Dr. Gentle leads prospective members through a six-week course called Discovery and leads short-term classes on various aspects of the faith.

The Discovery class, which has had up to 60 members at one time, is required of all who wish to join NRUMC. Dr. Gentle says some participants are seekers who God has nudged to move forward in their spiritual journey. “They are spiritually hungry,” he said. Many are open and willing to have their lives transformed, looking for meaning and purpose, he added. Part of the purpose of the Discovery class is to introduce people to NRUMC and the United Methodist Church. This is in addition to helping them discover their gifts and to discover where they are in their walk with the Lord, Dr. Gentle said. “We want to help them Grow in God’s Grace,” he said. Each person is encouraged to tell the story of his or her life and to discuss the story God is writing in their lives.

Connecting faith to the hard realities of life is a goal of different classes Dr. Gentle teaches throughout the year. One such class is “Making Love Last a Lifetime.” In those sessions, he talks about balancing work with children, finances and other areas of family life. During Lent, Dr. Gentle worked to create 20 small groups of 10 people each to share their faith, study together and support each other. He also develops programs of leadership training to develop servant leaders and counsels church members.

Dr. Gentle, who served a number of major churches before retiring and joining NRUMC part-time, sees God’s spirit at work in NRUMC.