Jen Collings is part of Northcote Baptist Church in Auckland and the National Director of the Christian Medical Fellowship of New Zealand (CMFnz).
At the beginning of 2022, Jen Collings and her husband Marcus pivoted to new adventures with God after 22 years of shared ministry within the Salvation Army.
Marcus has come home to serve the church community that brought him to faith in his teenage years. Longtime school friends and twins Nathan and Glen Gilchrist had invited Marcus to Northcote Baptist Church Youth Group. Over time, this, along with the Christian witness of the Gilchrist family and the wider NBC fellowship, led to Marcus making a decision for Christ. He now serves as the Senior Pastor of Northcote Baptist Church. Together, with their two sons Hudson (21) and Lincoln (16), the Collings have made Northcote Baptist Church their spiritual home and are loving serving there!
Jen is in a new full-time ministry role as National Director of The Christian Medical Fellowship of New Zealand (CMFnz). CMFnz is a growing network of Christian doctors and medical students committed to living wholeheartedly for Christ through daily work in medicine. Their work involves student groups, regional groups, annual conferences, advocacy, resources, mentoring and global medical networks.
Jen describes this as an unexpected adventure. Having thought she would serve as a Salvation Army Officer (Ordained Minister and Charity Director) for the rest of her days when Marcus sensed it was time to move on from The Sallies, Jen wondered what future ministry life would look like. While Marcus knew he was called to continue pastoring and preaching, Jen had a growing awareness that she was called to leadership of organisations engaged in Christian evangelism and mission activity.
At first, leading a medical fellowship seemed an unlikely call because Jen’s background prior to Christian ministry was in law, not medicine! However, the more she learned about CMFnz, the more she felt compelled to support these courageous and skilled Christians in living out their faith through daily work in medicine. Her work in leading the Salvation Army’s essential service response for Hamilton City in 2020-2021 had also grown within her empathy for frontline health workers and the sustained load they were carrying. Having been leading CMFnz for over two years now, Jen reflects on the privilege of serving this network. The role has brought opportunities for pastoral and strategic leadership to grow the fellowship, presence and organisation of CMFnz. At its heart, CMFnz is truly a ‘fellowship’, and every meeting with one of its members is a source of inspiration and encouragement.
Keen to extend her leadership skills, Jen enrolled in an Executive MBA programme, which she completed in 2023 and is using these governance and leadership learnings to support the impact of Christian organisations and churches. As a recently appointed Board Director of Christian Savings for the Baptist Savings Trust, she hopes to strengthen the work of the Baptist movement and churches across NZ.
Reflect 2024
Reflect 2024 Conference is presented by CMFnz in partnership with the Nurses Christian Fellowship of New Zealand and is on in Auckland: 18 May, Wellington: 22 May, and Christchurch: 25 May.
Keynote speakers Maja Whitaker and Adam Claasen will be presenting on embodied hope for ourselves, our patients and the world. This professional conference can count as CPD hours and is open to all Christians who work or study in health. If that’s you, please register today. Jen would love to meet you there! If you know someone who works or studies in health, please share this article with them and invite them to sign up!
Click here to open event poster.
Photo: Supplied by Jen Collings
