Pastor Scott Downing

Portrait of Pastor Scott Downing Portrait of Pastor Scott Downing as a kid

Title: Pastor of Life Development
Wife: Janet
Children: 2
Years with CCC: A little over a year

Education:

Testimony:

It would be difficult to understand my response to God’s redemptive work in my life without knowing the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Raised in a Christian home, I attended Assembly of God churches my whole life. Being from Louisiana, the type of church in which we were raised always had a Southern ‘flair’. Growing up in the Bay Area of California in the 1970’s, this did not fit the culture of my teen years! So, I rebelled against my heritage and Christ and pursued philosophy as a means to frame my understanding of the world. I pursued existentialism and nihilism, rejecting meaning and purpose as false emotional constructions. The result of this was despair and emptiness. The result of this was suicidal.

But God was gracious! During Basic Training in the Air Force, God used the imagery of The Road Not Taken to speak to my heart about the decisions I was making and the road on which I was traveling. This was extremely visual and it forced me to consider what lay at the end of the road on which I was journeying. By His Spirit, He called this prodigal back to Himself and I have continued serving Him since.

Like the poem, that has made all the difference. It was His grace that presented me with a decision—a decision for which He had readied me all my life.

Family

I am blessed to be married to my wife, Janet, for over 31 years. We knew each other for several years before we started dating and at the ripe old age of 19, we married! No one thought it would last, and to be honest, there have been times in our marriage when our relationship was strained to the limit. But here we are. God has taught us much in both our struggles and successes. His grace has brought us through and equipped us to share openly and honestly with other couples that find themselves in dire places of their relationship.

Janet is my best friend, supporter, confronter, encourager, and ministry co-laborer. Janet excels at teaching women’s Bible studies and has a special ability to reach out to those in need of encouragement and hope. She also has the miraculous gift of being able to speak into the lives of Jr. High youth! How blessed is that?

Our daughter, Rachel, is 28 and married to an assistant pastor, Brian Brown. Rachel and Brian met at Fuller Seminary where both of them received their MDiv (Master of Divinity) degree. Presently, they minister as associate/youth pastors at an Evangelical Covenant Church in Stockton, California. Rachel teaches sixth grade at a Christian school.

Our son, Jason, is 25 and works in the HVAC industry in Reno/Sparks, Nevada. In the past, Jason worked with YWAM in ministry in the Philippines, Taiwan and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

We have one grandson, Caleb, who is running as fast as he can to being 4 years-old.

Ministry Vision

I hold a simple vision statement that helps me remain focused on the priority of my mission. It is not original to me at all! Everything I have read about leadership and equipping in the church seems to me to be a restatement of what the apostle Paul wrote:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-15 (NIV)

As a pastor, my need is to recognize the gifts our Savior has given to His church, preparing (katartismos, implying a process leading to consummation) His people for works of service, always with the focus of attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of our Redeemer.

This is my vision: a church aware of its divine origin and sustenance, growing in love, knowledge and unity so much so that when people see us, they see the headship of Christ over our lives and our church. As a pastor, it is my calling to do all I can do to further the vision Christ has for His church.

A few favourite books:

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A few favourite hobbies: