Pastoral Ministry

“Compared to two years ago, the average senior pastor pay package and total compensation have decreased, while inflation continues to rise.” - Lifeway

“My parents are aging and in need of care and attention. To complicate matters further, I live eight thousand miles away. But many of the dynamics of caring for our parents as they age are the same regardless of how far we live from them.” - 9 Marks

“As pastors we live in plain view of God’s people. God designs it this way so that the flock can observe and emulate our faith (Heb. 13:7; 1 Pet. 5:3). Our people need to see how we practice what we preach in every area of life—including how we suffer.” - 9 Marks

“How do Christians continue to practice a biblical leadership model rooted in marriage from within a cultural moment where half the population isn’t married, whilst following a Savior who was never married?” - Baptist Press

“This was perhaps the most important lesson I had to learn. My call at church was not to soldier on as if nothing was wrong. It was to pastor the church in my weakness so that Christ’s grace would be magnified.” - 9 Marks

“While reading Dave Kiehn’s Pulling the Thread, I felt like I was sitting down for a thoughtful conversation about church revitalization with a loving and faithful pastor who was genuinely interested in the work the Lord had given me to do.” - 9 Marks

“By the time he sits down to prepare, much of his emotional and mental energy has already been spent elsewhere. Then his phone buzzes. ‘Pastor, when you get a chance …’” - Lifeway

“Walk into almost any church and you will find one person who absorbs more criticism than anyone else, answers to expectations no one wrote down, and is not allowed to defend herself. She holds no title. She drew no salary for the role. She never stood for a vote.

“I will never forget the phone call from the chairman of the search committee informing me that the church had overwhelmingly voted to call me as their next senior pastor….