Growing up as a pastor's kid, Dylan Barkman never thought he would be a pastor, but he has now been the lead pastor at Pansy Chapel for several years. What started out as a Sunday school program for local children, Pansy Chapel continues to grow, and Lead Pastor, Dylan Barkman, has had a front row seat his entire life. "My parents established a building here in the early 60s and that's when the congregation started to develop," Barkman says. "In the late 50s, they came from Blumenort, just north of Steinbach into the wilds of Pansy to establish some Sunday school programs for kids. That slowly grew into, 'Let's establish a building here.' It's turned into Sunday services and we've been adding little pieces here and there from then until now." Barkman says that seeing his dad in ministry his whole life had a big impact for him. "He's already with the Lord, but he was in ministry his whole life, and I got to see that growing up. I always admired him for it. I knew that I was going to be dedicated to Jesus for my entire life. That's never been in question. I think I've been involved in every ministry area of the church you can imagine, except song leading." .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } While he was always involved in the church, becoming a pastor was never on his radar. "People would ask me in the church, 'Hey, are you going to be a pastor one day?' And I'm like, 'No, I don't think so.' If I were going to be a pastor, God would have to call me to that. And I just really didn't think He was calling me." Being called to ministry When Barkman was in his mid-30s, he said something changed. "I started getting emotional about the Bible. I started having an incredible, unshakable love for people and the church in a new way that I hadn't experienced before, even though I was dedicated prior. "I realized God's calling me to ministry. And so I pursued every different aspect of prayer, and how can I confirm this? Over a series of months, together with my wife, Sheila, we both realized God is calling me to ministry and He's got me on this path, and I'm excited about it. As far as I know right now, my plan is to be a pastor until I'm 95." Although Barkman knows that God called him to pastoring, he says the role is not for the faint of heart. "It's not for the faint of heart. I've often come back to that calling, recognizing when things do get tough, it's tough to lead in the church and there are some tough things to navigate. I just love falling back onto this thing of 'Lord, 'You've called me. Then You've got to empower me to do it.' And He does so faithfully." Seeing God move in the Church While he has seen God at work in the church, Barkman is excited to see what happens in the future. "When you read the Bible, you hear about stories of people's lives being radically transformed. We see that in live time in our church. We see lives being transformed. My life is one of those. In a growing relationship with Jesus. He is so real and present, not just in a Sunday school answer, but in a legitimate every day, even Monday morning kind of way. And it is life changing. We see many people in our congregation who are experiencing that too. In some cases, it's a sudden change in people's lives. Other times, it's more of a gradual thing, but God is just doing something incredible." At Pansy Chapel, Barkman says there are a few things that the congregation is intentional about. "Confession and repentance of sin. That seems a little bit scary. We are bold and unashamed about what the Bible says, what the Bible defines as sin and unapologetic about it. There's an incredible refreshing that comes just like scripture says when we confess and repent in community as a church, that brings an irreplaceable unity as we submit to our Lord." Having a two-way relationship with God is something else the team at Pansy Chapel is intentional about. "Throughout the Bible, right from Genesis all the way through into Revelation, you see stories and instructions about people having a two-way relationship, and there are instructions about how to live in such a way to accommodate that. "Whether you describe it as learning to listen for God's voice or discerning His voice, which is huge, I would argue that everybody has heard to some degree. But then to discern it and then heed that voice, that's an incredible thing. It affects everything that we do. How we pray, how we serve Him. It affects what we do with our careers or what our motivations are behind that, whether He calls us to ministry or a business career. It also gives us this anticipation to be empowered with His Holy Spirit. "I think, unless the Lord comes back immediately or something like that, I think you're going to see in this place, you're going to see people's lives being transformed, and it's going to spill over into our community and beyond." Pansy Chapel is at 32077 Road 21N in Pansy and meets for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m., before the Worship Service starts at 10:30. Do you want to share a story of what God is doing in your church? Email us at dj@chvnradio.com to let us know.