Meet the Staff
Chris & Jane Ganter
Interim Senior Pastor
Have you met our Interim Senior Pastor Chris yet? Chris would love to sit back and have a cuppa with you! He is serving alongside Keith Stevenson as Interim Senior Pastor while we continue on our search for a new Senior Pastor.
Chris and his wife Jane both grew up in QLD, and have been married for 50 years. They both became Christians as children and spent their careers as primary school teachers, missionaries and in pastoring. Chris started his missionary training in 1977. He believes he was called to be a missionary when he was 15-years-old, but the missionary society he applied to said he was 'a bit too young' to do mission yet! They suggested that he start his profession first, which led to his teaching career. Being a teacher, Chris believes, was a fantastic training for both mission and pastoring. However, the call to mission stayed strong for both he and Jane, and after a few years of teaching they were off to PNG for a long-term mission trip. Looking back, Chris knows that his teaching and theological training equipped him for his future as both missionary and pastor.
Chris and Jane have spent a number of years bouncing back and forth between mission in PNG and pastoring in regional QLD. They are happily settled in Hervey Bay now, which is their favourite place in the world.
Their passion for mission remains one of their core values. They believe that the purpose of the church on Earth is to share the good news about Jesus with those who don't yet know him. Mission is at the very heart of God, because He wants all people to come to repentance. Chris would say to anyone who is considering mission, be in touch with God, go knock on doors, chat to ex-missionaries or current missionaries, and learn as much as you can about what it's all about. "Don't ignore it, explore it!", he says.
I asked both Chris and Jane about their favourite stories in the Bible. Jane is particularly fond of the story of Jesus calling his disciples. She loves that Jesus chose ordinary people, with different skills, and that through that we know that he can call us ordinary people, with different skills and personalities.
Chris, on the other hand, has two favourite Scriptures. The first from 2 Peter3:9, "The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." The second, from Revelation 7:9, "After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, 'Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. They sang, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen' "
Thank you, Chris and Jane, for spending your time out of retirement to serve our church while await a new Senior Pastor. We are very grateful.
Sam B
Chris and his wife Jane both grew up in QLD, and have been married for 50 years. They both became Christians as children and spent their careers as primary school teachers, missionaries and in pastoring. Chris started his missionary training in 1977. He believes he was called to be a missionary when he was 15-years-old, but the missionary society he applied to said he was 'a bit too young' to do mission yet! They suggested that he start his profession first, which led to his teaching career. Being a teacher, Chris believes, was a fantastic training for both mission and pastoring. However, the call to mission stayed strong for both he and Jane, and after a few years of teaching they were off to PNG for a long-term mission trip. Looking back, Chris knows that his teaching and theological training equipped him for his future as both missionary and pastor.
Chris and Jane have spent a number of years bouncing back and forth between mission in PNG and pastoring in regional QLD. They are happily settled in Hervey Bay now, which is their favourite place in the world.
Their passion for mission remains one of their core values. They believe that the purpose of the church on Earth is to share the good news about Jesus with those who don't yet know him. Mission is at the very heart of God, because He wants all people to come to repentance. Chris would say to anyone who is considering mission, be in touch with God, go knock on doors, chat to ex-missionaries or current missionaries, and learn as much as you can about what it's all about. "Don't ignore it, explore it!", he says.
I asked both Chris and Jane about their favourite stories in the Bible. Jane is particularly fond of the story of Jesus calling his disciples. She loves that Jesus chose ordinary people, with different skills, and that through that we know that he can call us ordinary people, with different skills and personalities.
Chris, on the other hand, has two favourite Scriptures. The first from 2 Peter3:9, "The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." The second, from Revelation 7:9, "After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, 'Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. They sang, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen' "
Thank you, Chris and Jane, for spending your time out of retirement to serve our church while await a new Senior Pastor. We are very grateful.
Sam B
Posted in Introducing