Geraint Morgan moved from the UK to Australia looking for sunshine, but what he didn’t expect to find was work in ministry! Now he is finishing up his second year as an MTS apprentice at Ann St Presbyterian in Brisbane, Queensland.
Jesus the way forward
Geraint grew up in a Christian home in Wales. His mum and dad were heavily involved in the local church modelling service to him, and he learnt about Jesus in Sunday School. Geraint felt he wanted a relationship with God, but the pressures of academics pulled him away.
He moved to England for university to study law, and despite good intentions, never settled into a church home there. God however was still on his mind. Geraint shares, “I was still trying to pray to God often but it wasn’t a very strong or healthy relationship.”
Thankfully Geraint went to university with his cousin, who was a strong Christian. Geraint reflects, “Thankfully he never gave up and carried on talking to me about how important actually maintaining a healthy relationship with Jesus is, as well as being part of a church.”
Over time God worked in Geraint and things ‘clicked’.
Geraint shares, “I realised that being part of a church community and actually trusting fully in Jesus as the one who secures my identity was the way forward. No longer was I trying to gain an identity or reputation that was based on academic performance or my career at the time. I was able to let that go and feel secure in my identity in Christ and put my trust in Him as the one who is ultimately going to save me. And there’s nothing I can do to save myself.”
A fresh start and a new path
Eager to escape the cold and wet weather of the UK and find a fresh start with more interesting work, Geraint moved to Brisbane, Australia in 2017.
Geraint reflects, “My main priority when I got to Australia was to find a church and to keep going. I had barely been in a church for a long period since childhood. Doing ministry? I would have laughed at anyone who suggested that!”
After trying various churches in Brisbane, Geraint eventually settled at Ann Street Presbyterian in May 2018. He shares, “I felt very welcomed from the beginning, and praise God – I haven’t missed many Sundays since then!”
In the early stages of attending Ann St, Geraint was simply trying to show up regularly and grow as a Christian himself. Slowly that developed from just receiving to having a desire to serve. He started by reading the Bible in church, then leading services, then Growth Group leading, church tech and more.
In September 2022, Ann St Senior Pastor Linden Fooks approached Geraint about doing an MTS apprenticeship.
Geraint says, “I was like ‘What is MTS? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ So we had a few meetings and I went along to SPUR (MTS Recruit) conference a few weeks later.”
At the conference Geraint felt very out of place, he met many people who had been thinking about MTS for years, and he’d just heard about it 14 days ago! However, it was also a very encouraging day that got him thinking, praying and taking counsel – a process that eventuated in Geraint starting MTS at Ann St in January 2023.
Sharing the good news to Brisbane
One of the big goals at Ann St, when Geraint joined the team, was to increase the evangelism efforts of the church. With the support and guidance of his trainer, Jeff Keighley the Ministry Development Pastor, Geraint became one of the heads of the evangelism team.
Geraint says, “Evangelism has formed the biggest part of my time with the church and throughout my MTS. This included starting different evangelism things, like the course Simply Christianity. I had to get that running, get people to lead it and then eventually train to lead it myself.”
Another part of Geraint’s evangelism ministry has been to international students.
He shares, “God opened some doors in student accommodations around the city for me (and then a team from church) to go in and do student outreach for international students. It’s been amazing and wonderful to see God at work in bringing some of those students that we spend Tuesday evenings talking in English to actually come into church to check out church services.”
In addition to evangelism, Geraint has also been trained to do Bible talks in youth ministry and church services, been involved in kids church, and many other various ministry experiences.
Amongst all the new and often challenging things, Geraint is thankful for his trainer, Jeff, who he describes as “a really good trainer.”
Geraint explains, “He’s been a solo pastor himself for 10 years in one church. And he actually started at the same time as me at Ann Street. So it kind of felt like we were both starting together in church. And this created some strangely unifying bond. We have regular Monday catch-ups and read the Bible. Seeing how he conducts himself and how he lives his life has also really helped me.”
The gift of the gospel – that keeps giving
Geraint has been encouraged by seeing people come along to courses like Simply Christianity, and then decide to come to church and be part of the fellowship there.
One such person has been of particular encouragement to Geraint. He describes how a man who came to Simply Christianity last year, went on to became a member of a Growth Group, has now stepped up into leadership in a group, and even does interviews in church extolling the virtues of Growth Groups!
Geraint shares, “It’s just incredible to think that before Simply Christianity, he hadn’t read too much of the Bible. Now to see him trusting in Jesus and seeing Jesus as the ultimate gift to give to others and him wanting to do that through faithful leadership of a Bible study group.”
To those considering supporting MTS Geraint says:
“It’s a wonderful way to equip people who are thinking of going into full-time ministry. And it’s a pretty awesome, tangible way to see how your resources are being fruitful in growing God’s kingdom.”