St. Timothy's Presbyterian Church

Meet The Minister

 
The Rev. Dennis Cook was called to St. Timothy's, Ajax in May of 2002. Dennis is married to Eileen, who works at a local Tim Horton’s. They have three children ages 19, 17 and 15.

Before entering the ministry in 1983, Dennis worked as a social worker in Hamilton and North York in a Group Home, Children’s Aid Society and Social Services. This background is of great help in seeking to meet the pastoral needs (hospital visitation, counselling, times of crisis, a listening ear) of the congregation.


With an informal, yet well organized style, Dennis seeks to make sermons, Bible studies and seminars relevant to everyday life. He uses his gift of encouragement to enable people to grow in their faith at their own speed and in their own way so they can develop their own ministries to serve the congregation and the community. Christianity as "a relationship" and as "a faith journey" are regular themes for sermons and studies.

Always open to new things Dennis spends his free time "surfing the net", reading, watching British mystery and comedy programs, listening to music (particularly soundtracks) and watching the Leafs and Ti-Cats with his 15 year old son. Two recent summer exchange vacations to Scotland had a great impact on the family leaving Dennis, in particular, with a desire to visit Scotland and Yorkshire whenever possible.

When asked, recently, to express his philosophy of ministry and his views on worship, preaching, music, pastoral care and church growth Dennis wrote this:

“My role as a minister encompasses many areas:
· Preaching and teaching the Gospel in a way that is relevant to people’s lives, offering both encouragement and challenge.
· Offering acceptance, care and prayer when people are in the midst of difficulties and celebrating God’s touch in their lives when things are going well.
· Helping people discover, appreciate and use the gifts God has given to them so they might grow in their faith relationship with Christ through discipleship and service.
· Walking with people during their faith journey, offering help, comfort and hope.
· Always, in all that I do as a minister, I am walking my own faith journey and am being comforted, encouraged and taught by those around me.

The Worship Service is the focus of the week for Christian community. It is the place where the congregation gathers to offer to God their lives, their praise, and their gifts. It is the place where people open themselves up to God, supported by one another. Worship and preaching are the times in the work of a minister when the most people will be touched and affected, week in and week out.

At its best, Worship is an invigorating mix of divergent themes and hopes. It is enjoyable and challenging, awesome and personal, formal and informal, serious and fun. It is a community enjoying the presence of one another and seeking the presence of God. With the Holy Spirit touching lives, worship can be comforting and encouraging as well as demanding. It should always be grace-filled.

Preaching is the attempt to bring God’s Word into the needs of people in the present day. A sermon is the result of the attempt, through a careful study of Scripture and its context, to build a responsible application for today. Knowing people and their concerns and hopes is essential for relevance to occur. Illustrations and humour are very important tools to help people remember the principles the sermon focuses upon. I have done storytelling and guided meditations as well as “regular” preaching so that things can be fresh for the congregation and me.

Music is an important part of worship. I like both traditional and contemporary music. A Worship Service can gain much from having a blend of both. This balance is not just for hymns but also allows for people to play different instruments and offer solos during worship.

Because it is so experiential music has the power of underlining memories and, as such, is a wonderful worship tool. It is important to honour the memories of those who are older while seeking the opportunity to make new memories for everyone through all kinds of music.

One of the great privileges and responsibilities of being a minister is offering pastoral care. Few people are invited into people lives at such diverse moments as birth, baptism, the loss of employment, family problems or break-up, the discovery of illness and death. It is an incredible role and must be looked upon with great humility.
My emphasis in pastoral care has been in crisis oriented situations, hospital visitation and visitation of shut-ins. My social work background is of help and effects the way I perceive my role. I tend not to invite myself into people’s lives with the assumption they want me there. If a need arises I will be in touch with people and offer assistance. If they are open I will become more involved. If they are not open I will stay in touch from a distance to see if their needs change. It is important for me to convey to the congregation my openness and acceptance so that they feel comfortable coming to me themselves or welcoming me when I call. I attempt to be gentle, encouraging, non-threatening and non-judgmental in my relationship with people and thus build trust and openness.

Confidentiality is of the utmost importance. I treat it with the greatest respect.

Church growth is an important goal for me—growth spiritually and growth numerically. My evangelism style is relational. My experience and comfort level have to do with encouraging the congregation to invite friends, relatives, neighbours etc. who are not connected to a Church to try out our congregation. A new person is more likely to be comfortable at a new Church (sometimes it’s the first time ever in Church), if a friend, whom they trust, invites them, sits with them and makes them feel at home in the Church.

Connected to this, it is important for us all, as Christians, to know and be able to enunciate our own faith story. Our story about why Christ and faith are important to us is something we can share with anyone who seeks the reason for our faith. Relationships allow us the opportunity to share our story. Relationships also allow us the opportunity to invite others to Church and to help people recognize and embrace their own faith journey.

For those who find the Church on their own, walking into a building they do not know and sitting with people they have never met and engaging in worship they have not experienced can be a very challenging experience. Therefore, a growing congregation needs to be aware of newcomers and have a warm, welcoming atmosphere. I believe St. Timothy’s joyfully offers this to newcomers.”

Dennis can be reached at revdjcook@hotmail.com