Many of you may recognize Nick Spurgeon and Eric Pollitz from last year’s intern class. After a year of spiritual discernment and practical on-the-job experience, both men have accepted positions with Parkside’s pastoral team. In September, Nick was tapped to lead Parkside’s support groups and Eric was assigned to lead the college-age ministry, Standpoint.

Recently, we sat down with Eric and Nick to catch up and learn more about what’s next.

A Look Back

What memories or experiences from the internship stand out to you?

Eric: When we first started, we were discerning the call to pastoral ministry. The Lord, over the course of the year, really confirmed that call through some of the pastors, teaching opportunities, and different interactions with people in the congregation. [Other people] were able to see a call in our lives into pastoral leadership and that really helped assure us that maybe this is something God is calling us to do full time.

The internship was a great way to be exposed to the different ministries. You get the broad scope of ministries and you get to see where you might be gifted or where you’re passionate, but yet you’re always getting the opportunity to teach to different groups of people. There’s an emphasis here on teaching in the internship and seeing if you’re able to do that helped, but it was also seeing if you have a heart for being a pastor, a heart for loving and caring for the people. That was also reaffirmed along the way.

Nick: I came in subjectively having this feel of call to pastoral ministry or preaching. So, through the process of the internship, having [the other pastors] say, “We think you’re called to do this. There are things you need to work on and we’d like to help you work on that.” That encouragement was really helpful for me.

Learning more about pastoral ministry and realizing that you may be gifted in one area, but you need to cultivate other areas pushed me to get outside of my comfort zone--which is to sometimes shut the door in my office and study. I realized that it’s not just about teaching. You’re looking for transformation; for people to be conformed into the image of Christ. A lot of that is getting to know people and knowing their heart. I began to see my heart changing toward people, too, because we’re here not just to teach, but we’re here to serve God and the church.

I think the internship was a huge deal for me personally because it confirmed my subjective call, but I also grew personally in having a lot of the pastors help me think about different things that I wrestle with and work through them and be counseled by them. I’m learning to use my time as best that I can and learning to balance all kinds of things at once.

What else did you discover about pastoral ministry that you didn’t expect?

Nick: We all are sinners trying to serve the Lord the best we can and we all have different things that we wrestle with. Part of being a pastor is getting to know [your people], being willing to serve them and being self-sacrificial. It’s not about me. It’s about [the people] I’m serving. I knew it involved working closely and intimately with people, but I think the way that plays out was the most surprising to me.

Did anything in the internship experience reveal areas for improvement?

Nick: Youth ministry was extremely tough, but it was also the one that pushed me and made me grow a lot. I had to reorient a lot of things in my heart to realize that I wasn’t always serving the Lord and I needed to. Even though it was tough, it was still good.

Eric: I’m nervous about things like weddings, funerals, and hospital visits. We’ve [had opportunities to see the pastors] do things like that, but we haven’t actually done them ourselves. It’s one thing to see the guys do it. It’s another to be called upon to do it. We’re going to be doing more on our own now with more people that maybe we haven’t met yet, and that can be a little nerve-wracking.

What are you looking forward to now that you’re officially on staff?

Eric: One of the things that I’m excited about is encouraging and equipping [the college-age] kids to really think about their place of influence. Whether they’re living on, or commuting to a campus, they’re still on a college campus with other students and they have that opportunity to get to know them, love them, and hopefully share the gospel with them. I want to see these kids have a heart to grow in Christ, become more mature in Christ, but also to go out and love the people around them with the Gospel.

How can we pray for you?

Nick: Where to begin…[laughter]

Eric: I guess now that we know we’re going to be here longer, being able to put down some roots. Also, with the new responsibilities, it feels like a lot of weight, responsibility, and time, so prayer for balance in life and family and that I would prioritize my family first and not my ministry. That I wouldn’t find my identity in my ministry, that my identity would be in Christ and keeping that the number one priority. Prayer for trusting the Lord that He’s the one that produces the fruit. He’s the one that makes it grow. I’m just called to be a planter, a sower, and just trusting that God would do the work.

Nick: Something that I’ve been praying for myself that I’ve been reading is 1 Timothy 4:16, and just asking that other people to pray that I would keep a close watch on myself, my own heart, and the teaching because from that comes everything else. Not only do I need to watch my own heart, but keep a watch over my wife’s heart and the hearts of people that are under me. I need to be praying for them and serving them, and, with all of those responsibilities, I will be able to do them well if it’s coming from an overflow of the heart.

Give a Warm Welcome

As you see them at Parkside, please be sure to say hello and give a warm welcome to Eric, and his wife, Emily, and their baby daughter, Lucy, as well as Nick, and his wife, Ally.

If you’re a college-aged attender, be sure to stop by Eric’s Sunday morning Life Group. They meet at 9:45am in room B012-B013.

Nick also leads a Sunday Morning Life Group at 9:45am in room A226. They are studying Philippians.