Lee Patmore

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Areas of Teaching at IABC

--NT Greek 
--Biblical Text
--Expository Preaching

Education

--IABC Senior Teaching Fellow (STF), 2025
--IABC since 2012
--2 Years at Bible College
--University of the Trenches (see personal statement)

My Story Begins

Isaiah 50:4–5 “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious, I have not drawn back…”

I identify with that line from the prophet. I have no PHD’s or MDiv’s to attach to my name. I have great respect for those who do, but that hasn’t been my journey. I was captured by Christ in 1981, and he refuses to let me go. The good news of Christ won my heart, and he’s been wooing me ever since. An evangelist on the streets of Edmonton pitched me the gospel with a line that was familiar to me from a Cheech and Chong LP. “Would you like to hear the word of God?” I smiled and took the bait. He invited me to church; I never went. He told me to buy a bible; I did, and I haven’t been able to set it down since. At nineteen Jesus blew me away and he still does today. 

I am the son of a mixed farmer who taught me more than I know. Only later in life did I realize the gifts my dad gave me growing up. I used to think my strong work ethic and my ability to fix things with my hands was something I acquired by my own strength. I now realize my dad gave me those things. He also taught me how to look at my fellow human beings, particularly those with less or those in the minority. I never remember him passing by a hitchhiker without stopping to pick him up. My dad is in his nineties now and I deeply cherish our weekly phone calls.

Journey

I began my career as an auto body mechanic, working at a start to finish shop, and excelled at it. I owned my own shop for 2 years and worked in management in another for 17.

At 45 I discerned a call into ministry. At the peak of my earning potential, I traded it in for a pulpit. I wanted to give the best years of my life to Him who gave His best to me. Some of my richest and most rewarding moments of my life I experienced during the 11 years I spent ministering to a small-town church in Alberta.

I did take a little schooling back in the early 80’s – 2 years towards a 3-year bible degree, but most of my schooling has been in the trenches. In the later years of my ministry, I began to do quite a few funerals in the community in which I grew up. I didn’t grow up in a religious home and neither did most of our neighbors. It was deeply meaningful to me to be asked to meet with the grieving and then to say a few words about the loved one. This was sacred territory for me. I found I was able to connect the story of Christ to the lives of the deceased in a way that was respectful and real to the grieving. It was odd to have people come up to me after a funeral service and ask me if I would do their funeral when the time came.

In 2018 I resigned from my preaching ministry. This was a very difficult decision, but my wife and I were convinced that it was time. I didn’t have a plan, trusting that God would provide. I went farming for the spring with my daughter and son in law, then I was offered a job at a funeral home. I soon discovered that wasn’t for me.

Oddly I ended up back in the autobody industry, pounding out fenders and changing sheet metal. It had been 28 years since I made a living with my hands, but I guess it’s like riding a bike. We ended up moving across the province where I now work at a Ford dealership in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Here my wife and I are heavily invested in our local congregation, serving where we can. Occasionally I have the opportunity to preach a sermon or teach a bible study. This remains something that deeply satisfies me.

IABC

One of the great gifts and constants that I have experienced in my life over the years has been my time spent with Gary Collier and my brothers and sisters at IABC. Thanks to this experience I have learned to how to approach our sacred texts with a deep respect and have acquired a skill set that enables me to handle them carefully. Gary has been a mentor par excellence. Relentlessly he has called me higher. Always encouraging, never afraid to challenge me, he has demonstrated the faithfulness of Christ to me.

Sacred Texts, Heart, & Writing

I love our sacred texts. I delight in seeking the heart of God through these ancient writings that continue to speak into our lives today. Nothing thrills me more than diving deep into our sacred texts. Conversing with these ancient authors as they wrestled with God always revives my faith and fuels my capacity to minister the gospel to those God puts in front of me.

As a preacher I used to manuscript most of my sermons, even when many times I would begin the sermon by turning the manuscript face down and speaking my message from the heart. The practice of writing drove my message into the deepest part of me and equipped me to communicate it effectively and passionately to the church. I have a desire to engage more fully in the art of writing. There are a couple of books on the back burner of my mind that need to make it to print. Luke-Acts has been a favorite dwelling place for me for the past 7 years. It’s time to stop stalling and start writing. “Lord, in your mercy, take me where you want me to go.”

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