Elliot Ku

Dear friends, on April 28 of 2024, I announced to the combined congregations of GracePoint Presbyterian Church that I will be finishing up my time here after 9 years of ministry.

This announcement comes after a long period of prayer, discernment, conversations, and reflections on where God may be leading our family to serve. It is also rooted in some honest assessment about our long term effectiveness at GracePoint.

I’ll write about our future plans on a separate occasion. But I wanted to use this space to share the journey and what’s been on our hearts.

Moving on from a church we love and adore is so so difficult. I arrived at GracePoint as a student pastor and have stayed ever since. Pastor Eugene and the elders were kind in offering me a pastoral position immediately after I finished my theological studies (I finished a final exam in November and then joined the staff team on December 1). I served our growing university students and young adults ministry in the early years. This then morphed into taking on more responsibilities at our campus (where my role eventually grew into being the Campus Pastor of Lidcombe). And it also stretched into a teaching and training role where I was involved in equipping lay leaders and future ministers of the Gospel.

Of course, I’d be lying to you if I said that the whole journey was easy. Ministry is hard work. I am no Apostle Paul but 2 Corinthians 11 paints a realistic picture of what it means to serve the Lord.

However, every step of the journey has been a joy-filled one. I’ve loved it. We’ve loved it. And the “we” (that is, including Sherilyn and recently Ana) is important because it is almost impossible to separate the ministry family from the ministry. It is helpful to distinguish (that is, recognise it’s difference and give appropriate time, energy, and attention as opposed to allow both spheres to collapse and overlap with one another in an unhelpful way). But it is difficult to separate (that is, “you Mr. Pastor go do your thing but leave it at the door when you come home”). GracePoint is our spiritual home and has given a place to love and be loved. We’ve appreciated the way that people have opened up their lives to us in profoundly vulnerable ways so that we can journey with them in the faith. And we’ve been so moved by people who have volunteered to enter into the mess of our lives to walk with us through the victories and the valleys.

It’s been a joy and privilege to see the Gospel applied to people over a 9 year period. We’ve seen people come to trust in Jesus for the very first time, people mature and flourish in the faith, people who have wandered far from God but return “home”, and people equipped to serve God in strategic and sacrificial ways. Sherilyn and I often pause to think of where people were at when we first met them and we reflect on how far they’ve come. Absolutely amazing. It is all because of God’s grace. Of course, we also grieve those whom we’ve lost along the way, and our hearts are especially heavy over those who have departed from the faith (though I hope this is temporary). Nevertheless, we are confident that God is at work in a really special way here at GracePoint.

This joy and love meant that it was very challenging for us when the opportunity to serve at another church arose. It felt like our affections were pulled in so many directions! But after a season of seeking the Lord’s guidance, we are confident that this is the right step for us, GracePoint, and the church we are moving to.

More information will be released in due course. But people from outside of GracePoint have been contacting me to ask if the news of our departure is true. It is. This is hard to recognise. In fact, I haven’t said anything about this on social media because the reality is still sinking in for us. We’re chewing on a bitter sweet candy/lolly and we’re tasting different things each day.

We have quite a bit of work to do in order to help our church (especially our congregation at Lidcombe) transition into the future. So please be praying for us. I’ve been spending most of my weeks meeting with people to help process the grief, explain the reasons and motivations for our departure, and providing as much assurance as we can about the future of GracePoint. These are hard conversations but necessary and fruitful.

Our exact final date at GracePoint still has to be confirmed. I have a bit of accrued leave that needs to be dealt with. We are hoping for a good break in between for some rest and also some time to make progress on my doctoral thesis. We’ve received some really good advice about taking some time off in between so that we enter into the new season feeling refreshed.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends, ministry mentors, and conversation partners who have helped me in this entire discernment process. You’ve spoken truth, wisdom, and encouragement into my life. I haven’t been able to provide all of you with individual updates because things have been progressing pretty quickly in the lead up to the announcement. We’ll pick up from this blog post when we catch up next.

But I also want to thank all the GracePointers who have responded with such deep understanding. I could not have imagined more godly and encouraging responses from all of you. Your responses reinforce the truth that God has a bright future for all of us. Thank you for coming up to us with your griefs and encouragements. They feel like fresh aloe vera gel on a vulnerable wound. We love you guys so much.

I have a feeling I’ll be posting a little more on my website in the coming weeks/months (the word limit on social media is a little difficult. But brevity has never been my strength!). So, you’re welcome to subscribe to this website/blog for future updates.