A Pastor’s Story

An insight into the past and present of one of our amazing pastors.

Evelynne Judkins

“I love helping our people at Faith Family and being there to be a support and encouragement. And I absolutely love helping people in their destiny and passions that God is desiring them to do.”

Evelynne Judkins is a part of our amazing Pastoral Team, as well as a critical part of many other processes across Faith Family, including the coordination of Safe Churches, Growth Track, Coffee In The Courtyard, and various Serve Teams, such as the Stewards and Greeters for Coffs Harbour. Evelynne has lived in Coffs Harbour since the age of 23, after being born in Waratah Hospital, Newcastle and growing up in Wallsend and aspects of the Gold Coast. Evelynne married her now-husband, Don Judkins, in May 1999 at the previously named “Christian Life Centre”. Collectively, Evelynne and Don have 3 daughters and 4 grandchildren.

“After a radical lifestyle transformation when being born again, after a period of time, I just wanted to help people. I didn’t have a great life, but after I started serving in the Youth Ministry and pastoral care for many years, I always had that pull of serving in church. It’s like it’s in my DNA.”

In pursuit of her upcoming ordainment, Evelynne has commenced studies at Christian Heritage College as of February 2021, opting to study online. Evelynne says that she has found the Leadership in Life and Ministry course to be tremendously helpful to her beginnings in formal ministry, and is currently on-track to complete the course this year! With 28 years of serving experience across various churches and a strong pull on her heart to pursue study and pastorship since 2019, Evelynne is very excited to see what comes next beyond this certification. In regards to the value of education and training for ordainment, Evelynne had this to say:

“Whether studying for bible college or whatever God has laid on your heart to do, it [education] is a vital part of the learning structure of what you’re called to and it gives you the insight and the knowledge that you can build a firm foundation from. And it doesn’t matter how old you are.”

“I get so excited when I see a life being transformed by God and I love the team I work and grow with.”

When asked about what traits and skills she believes are important for long-term health and success in pastorship, Evelynne had these points to share:

  1. Be able to spend time with God and trust Him to lead and help you in life.

  2. Don’t stress too much about what will happen in your life; there are life lessons to be learned.

  3. Don’t think you know it all; be humble and open to Godly counsel and wisdom.

When asked if she had any final messages to share with our Legacy Groups, Evelynne said this:

“If you want to have a fruitful life, make good Godly decisions and trust God with your life, learn lessons when life throws a challenge at you. And be a great listener and a great friend. Proverbs 18:24 - ‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.’”

Evelynne is just one member of an incredible team of pastors and leaders; if you’d like to send Evelynne an email to talk about any parts of her story or to encourage her as she finishes this stage of her study, you can contact her at evelynne@faithfamily.com.au!