Pastoral Ministry

“The longtime pastor and oft-praised preacher, who died on Tuesday at age 90, fought hard to lead in his Southern Baptist congregation, earning him a reputation for faithful obstinacy” - CToday

The Gospel Coalition asked three former pastors—all of whom now teach or counsel pastors—for their best advice.

“New Barna data shows that pastors’ confidence and satisfaction in their vocation has decreased significantly in the past few years, and two in five (41%) say they’ve considered quitting ministry in the last 12 months.” - Barna

“How many young men never hear the call of the Holy Ghost and desire the work of the ministry because their life is stained with this sin? How many never consider entering the gospel ministry because they think themselves unfit?” - P&D

“We couldn’t compete, so we didn’t try. We were just ourselves—faithful nobodies who wanted God to use them.” - Chuck Lawless

“…it makes sense to direct financial efforts to more than improving facilities or maintaining the general student population of our Christian schools. Increased assistance must be provided for students studying for ministry” - P&D

“Trust in pastors fell for the third straight year and reached an all-time low. Around 1 in 3 Americans (34%) rate the honesty and ethical standards of clergy as high or very high, according to the latest Gallup survey.” - Lifeway

“Majorities of both mainline (66%) and non-mainline Protestant pastors (53%) expressed concern that ‘Christians are more loyal to their political views than their faith.’” - CPost

“Most pastors have heard of deconstruction and some say they’ve seen it in their pews, but no one knows exactly what faith deconstruction means.” - Lifeway

“the first English Baptist confession, John Smyth’s (1609), lists ‘bishops and deacons.’ The First London Confession of 1644 lists ‘pastors, teachers, elders, deacons,’ while the Second London Confession of 1688 returns to two: ‘bishops or elders and deacons.’ In fact, nearly all Baptist confessions mention only two” - 9 Marks