Ben’s path to apprentice and then to trainer has been anything but ordinary. Originally a police officer, he started to pursue his conviction that real change doesn’t come from enforcing laws, but through an encounter with Jesus. Now, as he juggles roles as both an assistant minister and a Navy chaplain, Ben invests in equipping people to live out their faith in real, meaningful ways.
Ben’s mum became a Christian after he was born because she wanted to get him baptised, which led to her exploring the claims of the gospel. His dad wasn’t converted, however, so Ben wasn’t brought up being taught about Jesus. In his opinion, he was—to quote him directly—a “deadset ratbag” of a child, until the Holy Spirit started changing him in early high school.
“God showed me really clearly that me being king of my own life and attempting to be king of the universe really wasn’t a successful plan, not only for my own life, but for the lives of everyone else I encountered,” Ben explains. “It was literally in a New Year’s resolution where I said, ‘I need forgiveness, Lord. I don’t want to be king of the universe anymore. I need Jesus to be king, and I need His forgiveness, and I need a new start.’ And God’s been working on me ever since.”
A New Path
After working as a police officer for eight years, Ben realised it wasn’t as fulfilling as he had hoped it would be.
“I thought the problem with the world was a lack of law and order, and what the world needed was law and order, so I did that—and what I found was that I kept locking up the same people for the same things, and nothing ever changed,” Ben reflects.
He finally came to the conclusion that the only thing that leads to real change in people’s lives is Jesus. So at the start of 2011, Ben began a two-year apprenticeship with his church, Bathurst Presbyterian.
Ben was initially ready to pick up his family and go straight to college but took the counsel of his minister, Tim Abbey. He reflects, “My minister wisely guided me. He said, it’s a big deal if you just pack up and go off to Bible college without any kind of hands-on ministry experience. Ministry experience is a large proportion of your time. And I thought that was good advice.”
Learning and Leading
During his two-year apprenticeship Ben was trained by Tim, and he got involved in all aspects of church ministry, including preaching, leading services, small group leadership, pastoral care and children’s ministry. He ran the youth group and served on the board of elders.
After the apprenticeship Ben went to college, completing a Diploma of Theology from Moore Theological College in 2013. He also went on to do further study at Christ College. Ben ended up completing his Bachelor of Theology/Bachelor of Ministry (which included ordination) AND his Master of Arts in Theology while serving on staff at Gateway Presbyterian Church in Anna Bay.
Ben shares, “I would travel down, which was a little bit unusual, but I really liked doing ministry, so that’s why I did that.”
Since 2018 Ben has been serving as assistant minister at Harbourside Presbyterian Church in Coffs Harbour, where he oversees the 5pm congregation and trains apprentices, among many other things. And because life wasn’t already full enough—Ben and his wife Bec have seven kids—in 2023 he joined the Navy reserves as a chaplain. That involves going away for two weeks every quarter or so, where he’s stationed on a naval base or a ship.
Serving the Church and the Navy
“My job there is just to love people and to be a listening ear,” Ben explains. “When I get called up, I’m eating, I’m living, I’m working with people 24/7. So in two weeks in the Navy, I’ll spend more time with someone than I would in two years of the church. And because you have that shared life and those intense jobs sometimes, you form these deep bonds with people and you get to minister to them.”
While it’s not as intense as his stints with the navy, Ben does relish the opportunity to train apprentices through his role at Harbourside. He took on his current apprentice, Reuben, in 2023, and is looking forward to a new apprentice, Corey, starting in 2025.
Equipping Others for Ministry
“I love my apprentices,” Ben shares. “I really do. The relationship is intrinsically rewarding before you even train them. All apprentices start off very nervous and anxious about what they’re going to do and probably doubting themselves. And just to see them crack on and crush it and do great things is so encouraging.”
Ben admits that his main reason for enjoying being a trainer is because of the way it’s such an enormous gift for himself personally.
He reflects on his current apprentice, Reuben, who is about to move on to his next opportunity: “I feel so blessed to have been given the wonderful opportunity to spend time with someone one-to-one. Obviously it’s multiplied our ministries, it’s multiplied our capacity, and it’s good—we’ve trained Rueben up and we’re sending him out. So someone else will be blessed because of what we did here, aside from the obvious blessing that he has been here.”
Whether he’s training apprentices, caring for his congregation, or sharing in the everyday lives of Navy personnel, Ben’s heart is to see others encounter the grace that changed his own life. As he continues to invest in people and send them out to serve, Ben’s story reminds us that God can use the most unlikely paths to make a lasting impact for His Kingdom.