02. From the Stage to the Skies to the Field (feat. Aidan Holt)

This Week At Windsor, we dive into the incredible journey of Aidan Holt. Raised in a Christian home, Aidan’s path has taken him through performing arts school, an aeronautical engineering degree, his call to the mission field all of which has lead him to us at WDBC. He shares how faith shaped each step of his journey, his slow "friend zoned" start in his relationship with his wife Emily, and the exciting new role he’s stepping into at Windsor District Baptist Church as our new Associate Pastor. Don’t miss this episode to get to know Aidan a little better and what has led him to join us in this new role.

What is This Week At Windsor?

Candid conversations for the church. Host is Ardin Beech of Windsor District Baptist Church, Sydney, Australia. Co-hosted by Jonathan Hoffman.

Ardin: 00:06

This week at Windsor with your host Arden Beach and doctor Jay joining me once again. It's good to be back.

Jonathan: 00:13

Great to be back. Season four episode dose.

Ardin: 00:16

Episode two.

Jonathan: 00:18

Yes. Boom. It's gonna be a big year. Big year.

Ardin: 00:21

I've had a big year. You have. I am smashing it on the basketball court. You are. Yes.

Ardin: 00:26

I I didn't even realize how many points I had scored the other week. It was only because Mark Talks knew more than I did.

Jonathan: 00:32

That's right. Eight points, I think. Yeah. Which is pretty good.

Ardin: 00:34

Watch out Michael Jordan. Yeah. Yeah. Even in retirement.

Jonathan: 00:38

Yeah. There's a lot of money to be made in basketball if this radio thing doesn't

Ardin: 00:41

Not in, not in Hawkesbury fourth division men's, I I would pause it.

Jonathan: 00:45

Rumor has it, though, you can actually, you can watch the stats come in on the live feed. So anyone on Wednesday nights, if you go into the app, you can check Arden and how he's performing. Yeah. Wednesday evenings. What's your team name?

Ardin: 00:58

Boys in the hood. Oh,

Jonathan: 01:01

Zero cultural appropriation going on over there at all.

Ardin: 01:04

Bunch of skinny white guys.

Jonathan: 01:05

Yeah. That's right. Well, yeah. No. It's congratulations.

Jonathan: 01:09

It's good. It's a lot of pressure being being the leading scorer.

Ardin: 01:12

The tip of the spear. Tip of the spear. I don't I do not think I was the leading Yeah.

Jonathan: 01:16

Did you hit any three pointers?

Ardin: 01:17

I did. I got one. Wow. Yep. I think that's two in three years now.

Jonathan: 01:22

Hey. If you only take one a year, that's great. That's exciting. It's good to get a bit of get a bit of an outlet. Hawkesbury is a very sporty Yeah.

Jonathan: 01:33

Sporty area. People told me that. I didn't quite realize, but it really is community sport all the way from, you know, young kids right on up.

Ardin: 01:41

Now I've got something exciting coming up too and and a little different. Oh. I became when I I I as most listeners would know, I work for a government agency Yeah. And I became friends with a with a a young Muslim guy. Oh.

Ardin: 01:55

And he's invited me to to an end of Ramadan event at at his mosque.

Jonathan: 02:00

Oh, there you go. Yeah. It's quite interesting.

Ardin: 02:03

Yeah. So that's because they they fast over Ramadan. Yeah. And so they've got a thing called fasting fasting in my religion, and they've got a Muslim guy speaking, a a Christian, and very people from various faiths are talking about fasting in their in their religion. Wow.

Jonathan: 02:18

That's really interesting.

Ardin: 02:19

So he invited me to come along.

Jonathan: 02:20

That's great. When is this happening?

Ardin: 02:22

Sunday night. So I won't be at church.

Jonathan: 02:24

You'll be at the mosque.

Ardin: 02:25

At the mosque.

Jonathan: 02:29

Taking Oden off the roster. Just kidding.

Ardin: 02:32

So I'm taking my I bought him a copy of Seeking Allah Finding Jesus. Yes. Because he's from the same they're a different kind of type of Muslim to, like, the mainstream ones. Mhmm. And speaking with other Muslims at work, none of them are real big fans of this of this type.

Ardin: 02:48

Interesting. The these ones are kind of, I think, little sort of more free Mhmm. Kind of thing. Mhmm. So the the author of the book, Seeking Out of Finding Jesus, is from the same part of of the Muslim faith as as this guy goes to.

Ardin: 03:01

So I've bought him a copy, and I'm gonna take that along and Yeah. See what

Jonathan: 03:04

I I look forward to hearing how it went. Yeah. That sounds really exciting.

Ardin: 03:07

So, I mean, the podcast is called this week at Windsor. Yes. So what is actually happening this week at Windsor?

Jonathan: 03:12

Well, aside from your high scoring affair, what's happening this week at Windsor is we are gearing up for Easter. So we got, we had our creative planning meeting. We're looking forward to, yeah, unveiling the plans, for this year. We're very excited about what's gonna be happening. So be sure to tune in.

Jonathan: 03:29

We're gonna have Janelle Keyes coming on soon. She might be our next next guest, and she'll talk us through sort of her role in in in advertising and and getting the word out to the community of what's going on. So we'll probably talk a bit about our Easter plans when when Janelle comes. She's the one we teased last week, a recent return from The US. She has written a book as well.

Ardin: 03:49

Oh, that was her?

Jonathan: 03:50

That was her. Yeah. Janelle Keyes, author.

Aiden: 03:53

She kept that

Ardin: 03:53

under wraps.

Jonathan: 03:54

I know. I saw the book lying around in church on one of the rows, and I said, Janelle Keys, this is a book. Like, what is this? And then, yeah. She's it's like, you you didn't say anything.

Jonathan: 04:04

So yeah. So I bought my own copy. Looking forward to to speaking with her. But, yeah, this week, we've been doing some planning for Easter. We're right in the middle of our foundation series.

Jonathan: 04:13

Those are going great. We're about to transition. We've just wrapped up one Samuel in the mornings and our series through the beatitudes in the evenings. And so now we're we're gonna flip. We're gonna go New Testament in the morning, Old Testament in the evening, really focusing on this theme of seeing God at work in our world.

Jonathan: 04:28

And so, the morning series is through the book of Colossians. It's called good news everywhere. The idea that God's grace is reaching everyone in every place in every way, not just geographically, but also, to the extent of our whole person, you know, emotionally, mentally, relationally, spiritually, physically. Like, the gospel just really grabs us, in every way and changes us, for the better. And so that's what we're looking at in the morning.

Jonathan: 04:55

In the evening, we're going through a fascinating book. It's a book in which God's name does not even appear. It's the book of Esther. So we're starting that on Sunday night. So You'll miss the intro.

Jonathan: 05:05

Sad to hear that. But, but yeah. So that's what we're doing. We're really, pleased. We got to welcome Aiden Holt last last week.

Jonathan: 05:13

So, he's been here a week now. We've hired Aiden Holt to be our part time associate pastor. He's working three days a week, and he's really focusing on, doing a lot of these general shepherding, things that a pastor is called to do, caring for souls. But we've asked him to focus, mostly on people 40 and under, and that means he's gonna get plugged in into a variety of spots. So but he'll be doing all the things that a pastor, normally would do, visitation, preaching, teaching, leading leading groups, participating in ministries, trying to get people equipped and raised up, so that they can live, their life in love and service of Christ.

Jonathan: 05:50

So, yeah, we're really keen to have him aboard and keen to introduce him today.

Ardin: 05:53

Let's get to the exciting stuff. Do you wanna introduce our guest?

Jonathan: 05:55

I would love to. So we're very privileged to welcome our new associate pastor, Aiden Holt. Cue round of applause. Aiden, welcome to Windsor. Welcome to, this interview.

Jonathan: 06:05

We're so glad that, yeah, you joined our staff this week.

Aiden: 06:08

Yeah. Thank you.

Jonathan: 06:09

So, Aiden, why don't you begin? Just tell us a little bit about, yeah, where are you from? Where did you grow up? What was your upbringing like?

Aiden: 06:15

Yeah. So I'm from Newcastle. I grew up in a family of four. I have a elder sister, and we grew up on the fringes of Newcastle. It's actually Lake Macquarie, but everyone just says Newcastle up that way because otherwise people get confused.

Aiden: 06:29

Sort of like Sydney, you know, Greater Sydney, Greater Newcastle, but that didn't stop us from getting to the beach.

Jonathan: 06:34

Oh, yeah.

Aiden: 06:35

All of Newcastle. It's quite a beach culture. In high school, I used to do surfing for sport, which was a great privilege and a lot of fun. And

Ardin: 06:44

Not a whole lot of surfing at school out this way. Yeah.

Aiden: 06:47

Yeah. So I I grew up in this surfing town. There's a bit of a cafe scene. You might see the odd person walking without a shirt and just walking with thongs and carrying their board to the beach. A pretty relaxed town.

Jonathan: 06:58

Is there much rivalry between, like, Newcastle and Sydney? Educate an outsider for me. Like, it is there is that a thing, or am I just making that up?

Aiden: 07:06

Not really a rivalry, but I I guess when I first moved to Sydney, a lot of people would ask, oh, so where are you from? And I would say, I'm from Newcastle, and then they would answer, oh, so you're from the country. And I just felt, like, absolutely appalled by that response. Like, I'm not from the country. What are you talking about?

Aiden: 07:23

But I mean, as years went on, I realized I really am from the country. Newcastle has a lot more greenery, lots of scenery. I I guess people talk a bit slower. Just, you know, there's a more relaxed pace of life out that way. So, yeah, I've sort of become a city slicker over the years, a coffee snob.

Aiden: 07:40

Sydney has changed me. I I took a bit faster now.

Ardin: 07:43

So So when did you make the big move down to Sydney?

Aiden: 07:46

I came down to Sydney in 02/2012, and I came down to study engineering at Sydney University.

Jonathan: 07:53

Now I read on your resume that's like it wasn't just engineering, like, I think, like bridges and whatnot. It was aeronautical engineering. Is that

Aiden: 08:00

That's correct. Yep.

Jonathan: 08:01

So does that mean, like, helicopters or spaceships, or what what's

Ardin: 08:05

what's Spaceships.

Aiden: 08:08

I don't know.

Ardin: 08:09

Yeah. He does the aliens came, and they said, hey. Can you design a spaceship for us?

Jonathan: 08:13

Yeah. I'm I'm sure, like, I don't know. What what is aeronautical?

Aiden: 08:17

Yeah. So not quite out in the stratosphere kind of thing. Not those spaceships because beyond the Earth's atmosphere, there's no air. So we just basically did everything below the where the air stops.

Jonathan: 08:28

Got

Aiden: 08:29

I actually never worked in engineering. I did do an internship at an aircraft hangar. And early on in my engineering studies, I I had a sense that I wanted to go into ministry long term, and I had that sense all throughout university. Even though I studied engineering, I deep down, I knew that ministry was something I wanted to go into long term. I didn't know exactly when at that time, but that was how God was already working on my heart during my time at university.

Ardin: 08:57

So when did your faith journey start then? Tell us a little bit about your your Christian background.

Aiden: 09:01

So I grew up in a a Christian family, and I'm very, very proud and thankful to say a family with Christian heritage as well. Both sets of grandparents are also Christian. And so I grew up with this rich heritage of Christian faith, which in many ways I'm thankful to God for. I grew up going to Sunday school. There were scripture teachers that would come to school and read the Bible with us.

Aiden: 09:29

My mom would read the Bible with us mainly, both of my parents. But I I remember reading the Bible with my mom and my sister in the mornings. And so from an early age, I remember knowing that God exists and that God loves me personally. And, yeah, right from a young age, that's something that was influencing and shaping my upbringing and, I guess, being a, yeah, a disciple of Jesus was something that I really, I guess, felt naturally into. I can't really remember a specific time or a place where I became a Christian, yeah, which is I guess a a pretty typical experience for people that grow up in a Christian family.

Aiden: 10:03

It's maybe not so much a dramatic sort of transforming testimony, but still just as much glorious. And that that's why I'm very thankful for my Christian heritage just because in many ways, it's shaped my faith and encouraged me from yeah. Right from the get go, not sort of later in life. It's just wonderful to have had more time to walk with the Lord Mhmm. Yeah.

Aiden: 10:25

And to learn from extended family as well.

Jonathan: 10:27

In that and I'm glad to hear you appreciating your that heritage. I think it's something that's not spoken about probably as much as it should be. Just the, you know, God's promise to to, you know, blessing generations and generations of of people in faith. Was there a time when faith became personal to you when you started to transition and realize, oh, hold on a second. You know?

Jonathan: 10:47

I know there's a God. I know he exists. I believe him, but this this is something that I'm to walk in. When when did when did that begin to dawn on you?

Aiden: 10:55

When I started year seven, that's the natural time when you start going to youth group. Mhmm. Even before then, probably year six, I think at our church, there was sort of a bit of a kind of in between phase where we would be encouraged to go to youth group on certain nights, and some of the youth leaders would come to Sunday school for the year sixes and encourage them as well. So I think already around that age, was I remember getting my first bible when I was 11 or 12. Before that, I was just reading the family bible, but I I was given a bible for my birthday and I started reading it very excitedly.

Aiden: 11:31

And yeah, year seven, I I remember distinctly they had one of those sort of like altar call kind of moments, like everyone bow your heads and raise your hands if you wanna accept Jesus as your Lord, if you wanna follow him as your Lord. I remember that distinctly that language of following Jesus as your Lord, make him your Lord and master. And I remember that just like struck me quite deeply. And I think before then I was sort of thinking like, well, am a Christian, like I grew up in a Christian family, but, like, do I need to sort of make a decision to become a Christian? I remember sort of being a little bit confused or not not quite sure, like, oh, well, yeah, I'm a Christian.

Aiden: 12:06

What do I do? Do I do I pray to become a Christian? But I I I remember clearly on that night, just that language of do you wanna make Jesus your lord just really struck my heart. And I I thought, oh, this is definitely something I wanna affirm for myself. Like, this isn't simply my mom or my parents' lord.

Aiden: 12:23

It's it's not simply my family's lord, but I I wanna make Jesus my personal lord and follow him closely.

Jonathan: 12:29

Yeah. I have the privilege of, you know, having seen your resume, and we've talked through the interview process and whatnot. So but I think something that is maybe not as evident is you went to a performing arts high school. Is that right?

Aiden: 12:40

Yeah. That's correct.

Jonathan: 12:41

Yeah. So you went to a performing arts high school. Like, what is that? I'm an American. We didn't have special schools for different subject matters like they do here.

Jonathan: 12:51

Know I'm afraid of, like, sporting high schools or, like, select schools, but what's a performing arts high school?

Aiden: 12:55

Yeah. So we we didn't do any maths or science. I didn't learn to read until I was 10. A performing arts school is is a normal school.

Ardin: 13:05

Is it?

Aiden: 13:06

Okay. But just with additional, I guess, extracurricular things, extra opportunities. I mainly was in the music side of things. So was music, dance, drama, and I grew up playing piano. And so, yeah, I I enjoyed being in some of the concert bands and it was a lot of fun.

Aiden: 13:24

We got to go around Australia to different places for band competitions and so maybe just a little bit more opportunities, I guess that come with being at a performing arts school.

Ardin: 13:34

Do you still play piano?

Aiden: 13:35

Still play piano, sometimes, but not as much as growing up.

Jonathan: 13:38

You you mentioned dance as well. So do they make you do all the performing arts? Like, do drama, you do dance, you do painting, and draw like, did you do all of it, or you just, like, pick one emphasis?

Aiden: 13:50

In primary school, everyone would do a bit of everything.

Jonathan: 13:53

Okay.

Aiden: 13:53

And then in high school, in year seven, you would dabble in some of the other arts, but then year eight onwards, you would focus on your own, yeah, section of

Jonathan: 14:02

Okay.

Aiden: 14:03

Arts.

Jonathan: 14:03

Okay. And did did you have, like, a family heritage in the arts, or was was it just sort of you just got tapped like, man, Aiden's really gifted. You know? He can fly spacecraft. He can he can can play music.

Jonathan: 14:16

Like, was this a family legacy thing? Or

Aiden: 14:18

I guess, like, for my family, like, it might make you very sad to hear, Jonathan, but none of us are into sport. We don't watch sport. We haven't played any sports growing up. And my dad learned to play guitar when he was a kid, and my mom, she did piano and did singing lessons as a kid. And so I guess we're a bit more of a creative bunch and

Jonathan: 14:37

That's cool.

Aiden: 14:38

So just naturally led to us going to a performing arts school, I think, through my parents' interests.

Jonathan: 14:44

That's great.

Ardin: 14:44

Okay. So you finished the engineering degree. Thought who could be bothered? I wanna get into something important instead.

Jonathan: 14:50

Leave the Martians alone.

Ardin: 14:53

What what was the what was the timeline after you finished your your engineering degree and thought, you know, I really want them to get into ministry instead?

Aiden: 15:00

Towards the end of engineering studies, probably in my last year, I was already thinking about what would I do next immediately. And I my initial plan was to work for two years and then think about ministry after some work experience. I thought that would be helpful to get some life experience before doing ministry. But God had other plans. I I think I was already planning to go overseas for a short time just to maybe consider what it might be like to be a missionary in the future.

Aiden: 15:28

So I was thinking of going to East Asia. And my pastor, he caught wind of this and he said, oh, like, why don't you just go over there for half a year and see what that's like? And so I guess through the encouragement of my pastor, I started thinking, oh, maybe maybe I can flip the order around. Maybe this is something that God is leading me to consider now rather than sort of later down the track. So my pastor encouraged me to meet up with one of his contacts and someone who had served in East Asia before.

Aiden: 15:59

And and through that, it led to me considering a a one to two year internship overseas. Eventually, went for two years. So things really escalated from just, like, maybe just going over to see, like, a missionary for, like, a month to a full blown two year short short term, but quite a longer short term mission stint.

Jonathan: 16:17

How did you find reintegrating into Australia when you came back?

Aiden: 16:21

Yeah. It was fairly smooth, but like all reentry from another culture, there's this phenomenon called reverse culture shock. And I remember going to a wedding straight after coming back. It was the first weekend. And in between the ceremony and the reception, I just went for a walk to the park because I was feeling a little bit flat.

Aiden: 16:39

And I I just walked around, and then I sat down, and then I just fell asleep. I was in a suit. I just fell asleep in the park. Yeah. So you can get quite tired when you when you come back from serving abroad and meeting people again and trying to remember everyone's names when they haven't seen for a couple of years.

Aiden: 17:01

But beyond that, yeah, like just I I guess I I realized how wealthy we are as Australians. We're very privileged, and I think that kind of overwhelms me a little bit. Yeah. I just realized that all of my family have a very strong Australian accent. I never realized that before.

Aiden: 17:17

And then I had a little bit of a there were some Americans on the team, and I I started to sort of my eyes became a little bit more, like, stronger and It always happens.

Ardin: 17:26

Yeah. Always happens. Now you're at WDBC. How do you see yourself fitting into the team here? What what do you what do you see your what do you see you're bringing to WDBC?

Aiden: 17:36

Well, that's a good question. I I guess, on paper, what the church were looking for in advertising, they were looking for a part time pastor, someone who would help out in, various different roles, but generally to, I guess, help out with the general task of shepherding these people. In terms of what I bring specifically, yeah, I guess, God has been working and leading me, in my ministry journey, and I think a big passion that God has put on my heart has been to teach and to really help people to grapple with God's word and all of its richness and fullness. And, yeah, like, it's just encouraging people in their walk with Jesus at whatever stage that might be, whether it's meeting Jesus for the first time in his word or if that's someone later in their life they've been reading about Jesus and following him as their lord or their longer sort of life compared to me, then, like, at any stage, just encouraging people to know that there's more more room to grow in their own spiritual journey or there's more more to be gained in the trust in the Lord Jesus and more that they can learn about him and more that they can feel his presence in their life and enjoy.

Aiden: 18:56

There there's something for everyone. I remember one time hearing I I don't know where this quote comes from, but the the word of God, it can be as shallow, like, for young children to play in, the shallow end of the pool, and it can be deep for a theologian to drown in. It's yeah. There's something in God's word for everyone and I guess just coming to WDBC with that passion and, yeah, seeing how God might through his word change people's lives. That's something I'm looking forward to very much.

Jonathan: 19:26

And you don't come alone. You're you have a family. Could you tell us a little about your family?

Aiden: 19:30

I'm married to Emily, and we have a daughter, Eliza. She's just turned four months. So we're very joyful about that at the moment.

Jonathan: 19:38

Absolutely adorable. Got to got to have a little hold on Sunday. She's he's lovely. Can you tell us a bit, Aiden? How did you and Emily meet?

Jonathan: 19:46

How did that relationship take off?

Aiden: 19:48

So Emily and I, we met in university, and I was in my final year of university. Emily was in her third year, and this was in 02/2016. I I started becoming very attracted to Emily, and I I I had intentions to ask her out. Emily had no idea that this was coming. I was just the senior student, someone who, you know, was finishing university, much more mature, not thinking about women at all.

Aiden: 20:16

And to her surprise, I asked her out, and she was she was just absolutely shocked, like appalled that I would ask her out. She ended up this is at the end of a a conference as well. Yeah. And I left it till the very last day of the conference. I I thought I'll never see this person again.

Aiden: 20:31

So I I must ask them out now or never. Yep. Emily was appalled. She she ended up leaving after that conference with she found her brother and said, we gotta go. And she, like, got in the car and just shrugged off.

Aiden: 20:44

And she had told me she'd think about it, but actually, she was not interested.

Ardin: 20:48

So She had no intention of thinking about it.

Aiden: 20:50

The next day, I I received a I think it was a a perfectly, you know, polite message, but she admits now that it was a bit brutal just saying no to the coffee. Years later and we saw each other over the years at different reunions of that yeah. The group that we were helping out with at university in the Christian group. We we've bumped into each other, but it was always very cordial, very polite. How how are you going?

Aiden: 21:17

How have things been? Oh, yeah. Like, good. Thank you. I've been teaching or whatever.

Aiden: 21:21

And and that would be it. We wouldn't really talk much more beyond just, yeah, mere salutations.

Jonathan: 21:27

And

Aiden: 21:27

so, yeah, towards the end of 02/2022, Emily coming to another reunion, she just had a change of heart for some reason. And because in the back of my mind, I kind of always thought, oh, like, what what what would happen if Emily ever changed her mind or if things, you know, were to sort of change between us? And so Emily trying to sort of shift gears and be subtle and joining the conversation and talking a little bit more. I think I was a red alert from the get go that something was happening, something had changed. And so she decided to come to my graduation ceremony from SMBC, Bible College graduation.

Aiden: 22:06

She sent a message after that saying, oh, like, it was good to see you there, and would you like to have a coffee? And I I was already a little bit suspicious that something was up. So but, yeah, at the same time, I I wasn't really sure about it because I I wasn't sure if I still liked Emily. And so I I was kind of going, you know, in denial as well. Like, I I'm not really sure.

Aiden: 22:26

But, yeah, we ended up having coffee, and she was too nervous to spill the beans. And so she had to call that night. Oh, actually, sorry. The next day, she arranged a call, and we we chatted and she shared everything that was on her heart and

Jonathan: 22:40

What'd you talk about at the coffee if she didn't if she if she didn't come out with it then? It

Aiden: 22:45

Well, because we we never really said it anything to each other over the years. It's always just like, hi, how are going? So we we had like about six and a half years of things to catch up on because we we were never able to, you know, get beyond just pleasantries.

Ardin: 22:59

But Yeah. You can never underestimate the extent of the friend zone. It's reaches far and wide.

Jonathan: 23:07

And we have one who has climbed out of it.

Ardin: 23:10

A new champion has has risen.

Jonathan: 23:13

Has risen. You can survive and thrive. Well well done for crossing the crossing the great divide. That's awesome.

Aiden: 23:24

Alright. That's Emily to, yeah, to really applaud Bey, like, for her bravery, I suppose.

Jonathan: 23:31

So how did it how did it go? Was it like so you know that message I sent you six something years ago? I've changed my mind. I've thought about it for six years, and I've changed my mind.

Aiden: 23:39

Oh, I guess she was very humble. She actually began by apologizing

Ardin: 23:46

Oh, wow.

Aiden: 23:46

For which I I didn't think was it wasn't all that much to apologize. I thought that's pretty standard. If you don't like a guy, you just tell him, you know, see you later. Yeah, she felt that she wanted to apologize, which is very kind. And then she said that she was wondering if the if I would be interested in considering anything more in our relationship.

Ardin: 24:06

And how long have been married now?

Aiden: 24:07

We've been married for a year and a half since September 2023.

Ardin: 24:11

Oh, well, thanks for joining us tonight, and thanks for joining WDBC. Looking forward to to spending some good times with you.

Aiden: 24:18

Yeah. Thank you very much.

Jonathan: 24:20

Great to have you aboard.

Ardin: 24:22

Cool. It's great catching up with Aiden. Good to have him on the team. It must feel good from kind of, like, the head pastoral position just to sort of, I guess, to see that that growth in the body and therefore the need for for more leaders and stuff.

Jonathan: 24:35

Yeah. I I I love the that the church has given us the opportunity to bring someone like Aiden on and, welcomed him so openly. And I'm really excited for what God's gonna do, in his time here with us. I mean, as you can see just from one interview, a guy has breadth in so many different areas. We didn't even about his PhD studies he's working on.

Jonathan: 24:56

But there's a real gentleness there. There's a heart for the Lord. And Aiden's one of those guys, the more you hang out with him, you're like, oh, I just wanna hang out a little bit longer. I wanna just spend a little more time with him. And so we're confident that, it'll be great to have him and his young family, here among us and, just excited for what God's gonna do.

Ardin: 25:14

And very patient too, I think. He waited six years.

Jonathan: 25:17

He did. Six years in the friend zone, baby. Bust it out.

Ardin: 25:21

Thanks for listening, everyone. We will catch you next time at This Week at Windsor.