Wired for Ministry

Dan Macomish juggles two roles each week: one as an electrician, and the other as a youth pastor. This year, he’s added training through VBC to the mix—so we had a chat with Dan to find out more about him.

Throughout his childhood in Albany, Western Australia, Dan had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home. It was while he was on a youth camp in his late teens that he understood the gospel with greater clarity. The Bible talk was based around Ephesians 2, and it helped Dan realise that despite growing up with Christian parents and attending a Christian school, he was deserving of God’s wrath. This was a profound moment for Dan as he comprehended God’s grace in a whole new way.

That understanding of grace has shaped Dan’s decisions ever since, as he has sought to think through what it looks like to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. When he finished high school Dan moved to Perth to start studying at university, but it didn’t take long for him to figure out that it wasn’t for him.

After trying out a few different options, Dan ended up deciding to do an electrical apprenticeship, and he’s still working in the trade to this day—though he has since moved back to Albany, and there have been other opportunities that have come up alongside working as a sparkie.

“I worked as a chaplain for a few years at a local school for at-risk youth,” Dan explains. “I really enjoyed walking alongside younger people and just being a positive influence in their life, and taking small opportunities to share my faith and invest in them.”

That positive experience of chaplaincy led Dan to serve in youth ministry at his church, Albany Baptist. After completing a year-long internship at his church, at the start of 2023 he was asked to join the staff team in a part-time capacity as youth pastor. When Dan first started his role with church he chose to focus on learning the job, but he now feels the time has come to start getting further trained, so he’s enrolled in an Advanced Diploma through VBC. He’s really enjoying it so far.

“It feels like a hybrid between two ways of learning, because it’s still through a computer screen, but it's very engaging and I’m learning alongside others,” Dan says. “And the smallish classes means you can actually have a turn to speak.”

Dan has really appreciated the way his VBC trainers think through how the content being taught will impact real life, both personally and in ministry. He values the way his training doesn’t feel compartmentalised from his role at church. 

“It’s actually equipping me and training me for the role that I'm in,” Dan explains, “And I love that one of the units I’m doing at the moment is about sustaining Christian leaders, so it’s actually directly impacting my ministry.”

When asked what he would say to someone considering training through VBC, Dan says, “ Just give it a whirl.” He’s been confronted by how many Christians around the world don’t have access to any Bible training whatsoever, so Dan highly recommends that people make the most of the flexible training options available through Vocational Bible College.

As for the future, Dan isn’t sure yet if he’ll end up in full-time church ministry one day or if he’ll continue juggling his trade as well. Either way, he wants to be faithful in whatever he does and he’s committed to staying open to wherever God leads.