Pastoral Ministry

Originallly appeared at Whirled Views, June 2009. Read Part 1.

Originallly appeared at Whirled Views, June 2009

In the last week I’ve spent time talking with three pastors who are about ready to throw in the proverbial towel. Each case is different and no two pastors, churches, boards or any other “part” of church leadership is exactly the same, but what is common among them is a sense of deep despair. Sadly, in the last week I’ve also heard of two colleagues in the ministry who ended their ministry with a catastrophic failure—one of them a rising evangelical leader who admitted to an affair. Not in every case, but in some cases, I’ve noticed a correlation to the thought processes between those who burnout in ministry and those who “flame out” due to sin. But whether you burnout, flame out, drop out or rust out—out is still out.

I am now two years beyond my own decision to step away from the senior pastorate, so I hope I can be a bit more objective about a topic like this than I might have been twenty-four short months ago. As for my own situation, I had my own reasons for changing the nature of my ministry and I am not looking back. For the cynical or others, nothing I write in this article should be construed as anything more or less than what it is—an opinion piece from someone who has sat on both sides of the pulpit for the last twenty-five years of ministry and who is still engaged in pastoral ministry—just from a different perspective in recent months.

I don’t pretend to write for every pastor out there, but I spend a lot of time with pastors and former pastors. There are some trends that are impacting pastoral leadership at this time that I think impact churches and their leaders. There are some frailties and vulnerabilities that any man called to be a pastor is naturally going to carry into his responsibilities. Add to that the spiritual warfare that is incumbent upon being a spiritual shepherd (or undershepherd). It is with these realities in mind that I offer some things that I’m guessing your pastor wishes you knew about him.

A Conference Ministry to Pastors

I first heard about the Conference on the Church for God’s Glory in 2005 and decided to attend. I found the experience of this small but high-quality, one-day conference to have an extraordinary cost-benefit ratio. After attending again in 2008, I felt keenly that too few people knew about this small gem of an event, and I wanted to know a little more about the thinking that goes into it.

Assembled with the realization that most pastors are overworked and underappreciated

In my mind and heart, a special place is reserved for heroes of the faith. While Christians are certainly not to seek applause and publicity for charitable acts and contributions to the Lord’s ministry, God’s choice servants deserve recognition and appreciation for working well and diligently for the Lord.

Purves, Andrew. The Crucifixion of Ministry: Surrendering Our Ambitions to the Service of Christ. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP, 2007. Paperback, 152 pages. $15.00

(Review copy courtesy of InterVarsity Press.)

Recently I sat down with Pastor Matt Morrell to discuss the challenges of being a young pastor, life in a pastor’s family, the state of Fundamentalism, the role of the Internet and blogs, and other topics. Matt is the new pastor of the historic Fourth Baptist Church of Plymouth, Minnesota. He succeeds Richard V. Clearwaters, Dr. Ernest Pickering, and Dr. Doug McLachlan in that role.

Wilson, Michael Todd & Brad Hoffmann. Preventing Ministry Failure: A ShepherdCare Guide for Pastors, Ministers and Other Caregivers. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2007. 265 pages, Paperback. $16.00.

(Review copy courtesy of InterVarsity Press.)