Bible Presbyterian Church<\/a> way up in northern Wisconsin where, if you\u2019re not looking, you can get bitten by a muskie.<\/em>
\nFirst of all, I am glad by God\u2019s grace that we can\u2019t \u201cbegin all over again!\u201d Once around is enough for me. I\u2019ll never understand why reincarnation appeals to so many!
\nFor context, I\u2019m 61 years old, and Linda and I are in our 30th year in our current parish. I was at my first congregation, a church plant, for nearly three years. And that would be my first suggestion to someone starting out: don\u2019t try to start a new church right out of seminary! In fact, knowing what I know now, I would have looked hard for an assistant\/associate position to get several years of seasoning. That first church just about finished me off, and only my wife\u2019s faith in me and a return to seminary for an advanced degree kept me in ministry.
\nIt\u2019s almost impossible to answer the question, \u201cWhat ONE thing would you have focused on more?\u201d because the pastorate (at least in smaller and medium-sized churches) won\u2019t let you do that (and I don\u2019t have the iron will of a Eugene Peterson to stay focused!). With the exception of an incredible half-time youth director (who\u2019s been with us for 15 years and built an amazing youth ministry), I am the only paid ministry staff member. Because we\u2019ve invested our personnel dollars in youth ministry, we don\u2019t even have a secretary (though a volunteer does put the Sunday bulletin together). So I am the classic \u201cjack-of-all-trades\u201d pastor \u2014 and I love it! It has forced me to lean heavily on the ministry skills of my people (and made me wish I were a better mentor\/trainer than I am).
\nBut if I could go back (now) and talk to myself as I was first starting out, I would say to myself, \u201cRelax! It\u2019s all going to turn out not just \u2018fine\u2019 but way better than fine!\u201d As I confessed to my church members (and to my wife and grown children) a while back, I spent so much of my early ministry years living in fear. Fear that I wouldn\u2019t be a good enough pastor. Fear that I wouldn\u2019t be a good enough parent. Fear that I wouldn\u2019t be able to financially support my family adequately. And all of that energy that I invested in fear (and a fair amount of corresponding inner anger and depression) was so unnecessary. If only I had listened to my own sermons on God\u2019s grace and faithfulness.
\nPerhaps these are lessons that only age and experience can teach; but for a long time I found it very hard to live in the kind of grace that I was offering to my people. Sad to say, I\u2019m not sure I was truly content with my ministry, my life, or myself until my late 40s.
\nSo what wisdom would I give to a new pastor if were asked the question, \u201cWhat should I focus on?\u201d Focus on God\u2019s grace and faithfulness \u2014 for your people, but especially for yourself!
\nBob<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you could begin all over again, what one thing would you have focused on more? Or, put differently, what wisdom would you give to a new pastor if you were asked this question: What should I focus on? Here\u2019s a reflection by Bob Smallman, pastor at Bible Presbyterian Church way up in northern Wisconsin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1740],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoring-and-preaching"],"yoast_head":"\n
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