Our Team
Pastor Allan Pole
My name is Allan Pole but you can call me Al. I grew up on a farm on the northern edge of Calgary so I remember when the Northern Hills area was covered with crops, cows and gravel roads. I have lived in other parts of Alberta – Edmonton, Lethbridge and Wetaskiwin – but when my wife, Brenda (who I married in 1985), and I moved back to the area in 2003 with our daughter, Allison (born in 1995), and our son, Braden (born in 1997), we thought it would just be for a short time. The Lord has a way of working things together for our good, so in August 2004, the four of us started to meet in our living room on Sunday mornings with the intention of planting a church. Since then, we have met at Coventry Hills School, Wingate by Wyndham Calgary Airport and RCCG Living Faith Chapel. We now meet at Vivo for Healthier Generations. We have experienced “the good, the bad and the ugly” of church life, so when we chose the name “New Beginnings Church,” we felt it represented a fresh start for ourselves and for whoever would join us.
I carry a variety of experiences, having grown up and pastored (since about 1984) in Pentecostal churches and educated in different schools along the way: Eston College (formerly Full Gospel Bible Institute) with a Pastoral Major, Foothills Christian College (formerly Berean Bible Institute) with a Bachelor of Arts and a Christian Education Major, Taylor Seminary (formerly North American Baptist Divinity School) with a Master of Divinity and Fuller Theological Seminary (the only school that has not changed its name since I studied there) with a Doctor of Ministry.
You might be able to tell this by looking at my photo, but my dry sense of humour appreciates unexpected jokes, clever puns and good hair. I am a guy of average intelligence who enjoys books, food, movies, music and live theatre and a guy of average athletic ability who enjoys football, hockey, basketball, badminton, bowling and (unbelievably) curling. I like to cruise the country roads in my convertible on warm sunny days.
My personal mission is to help others fulfill God’s call. This includes introducing people to Jesus Christ, sharing the life-changing truths of God’s Word, helping them to discover and develop their gifts then doing all I can to encourage and release them to live out the purpose that the Lord has for each of His followers. I dream of a church that is overflowing with the love and creativity of our Heavenly Father and reaching out to our communities, province, nation and other nations. If you don’t have a church home and are searching for a safe (but imperfect) community in which to love God and love people, I invite you to check us out.
