Looking in the kitchen of any restaurant may cause you to never eat there again. Looking behind the curtain at a church may cause you to question your faith. I’ve seen it happen. Why is it? I think it’s because we have unrealistic expectations for what goes on at church. There are false expectations many people build into their faith. They build their faith upon the idea that mystically everything in the church is okay. Perhaps they want it to... Read more
“You should leave while they’re still sad to see you go.” I agree wholeheartedly with this bit of wisdom I gathered from a seminar on longterm ministry. You don’t want to leave a church because you were fired! You don’t want to have a few beautiful decades with a congregation tainted by the last year or two. How long is too long? When is it time to go? What are the signs it’s time to leave your ministry? Maybe I’m... Read more
“Why did God call you into ministry?” He asked me, looking for the right answer, not a story. I had previously thought this question was easy, but now my answers seemed inadequate. “God called me into ministry.” I started hesitantly, “Because he wanted me to serve and lead his people. He equipped me to bless his church.” That sounded right, it’s what I had thought. My friend had different ideas. He reminded me, “God calls us to himself. His first... Read more
Love is not required for any other job (at least that I can think of now). An office worker doesn’t have to love their supervisor. A carpenter doesn’t need to love the foreman. An executive doesn’t need to love their staff. A doctor doesn’t need to love their patients. A teacher doesn’t have to love their students. A pastor? They have to love their people. Loving the people you work with makes any job easier. You’re happy to take instructions... Read more
Andy Stanley wrote that he never experienced a sense of call. I’m sure he’s not alone, but I’ve yet to meet another minister who didn’t have a sense of call. It’s a sense of call the keeps me in the game. It’s what my wife and I go back to when things get tough. You can always find another job, but another call? A sense of call isn’t necessarily unique to ministry, in that I think God calls all of... Read more
“It’s not normal!” That’s what my wife and I tell our kids when we talk about lasting in our ministry at Bowling Green Christian Church. It’s hard to nail down a hard average tenure for the American pastor as there is no one singular body that tracks these details. I’ve seen numbers that range from 3 to 8 years, which means at best I’ve doubled the average tenure. My experience isn’t unique, but unfortnately it’s not common which is why... Read more
Option C Church
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