Jacob Madder on Thinking About Ministry but Feeling Disqualified?

Ever felt that tug toward ministry, but your brain immediately goes, “Nah, not you. Too much mess in your past. Too many stuff-ups. Nowhere near holy enough”?​

In this episode, Jacob Madder (Youth and Music Minister at St Faith’s, Narrabeen) shares his raw story. He grew up in a solid church community with a low hum of “maybe ministry one day” in the background, but internally he was sure he wasn’t the type, and his choices seemed to back that up. He drifted from church, dropped out of uni twice, made some painful mistakes, and carried a deep sense that he was never going to be truly forgiven to ever call others to follow Jesus.​

This episode covers:

• The quiet weight of “you’d be great in ministry” when you’re convinced there’s no way you could be.​

• How walking away from church and hitting a low point in his mid‑twenties became the turning point, not the end.​

• The moment a new staff member, who didn’t know his past, told him he should consider ministry, and why that hit different.​

• The real‑life wrestle between a big pay rise on the tools and a minimum‑wage ministry apprenticeship.​

• What Jake has learned about insecurity, shame, forgiveness, and letting God use every part of your story.​

If you’d like to watch the full conversation, subscribe to us on our YouTube channel to catch the full video there. Link in our Instagram bio.