By Sean W. Corser

When you prepare and entrust young men to preach you allow them a jumpstart at finding their voice, you provide benefit to your congregation as you prepare another preacher to boldly proclaim the glories of Christ, and you personally benefit from sitting under the preaching of another faithful man.

By Jon Hawkins

As I’ve reflected on the last 6 years, I’ve been amazed to see God’s grace and faithfulness. No we haven’t experienced dramatic numerical growth or expanded to multiple campuses but we have grown in health. I’ve thought back on what I wish I had known walking into this and that is the genesis of this series of articles. 6 reflections on 6 years of church revitalization.

By Brian Croft

Pastors and aspiring pastors, a church not having folks your age in the church generally should not be a deal breaker. In fact, you and your faithful energetic ministry may be exactly what God uses to turn the church around. But, make no mistake, it is hard, hard work.

By Matthew Spandler-Davison

There are two key factors that often lead to a pastor’s short tenure: loneliness and a feeling of ineffectiveness. As our association was revitalized, pastors began to pray for each other. We’d meet, often informally, for lunch or breakfast, simply to check in with one another.

The antidote to much pastoral discouragement can be found in deliberate and purposeful fellowship with other pastors. Not just any pastors, but likeminded pastors. Fostering this kind of fellowship was our aim when 3 other pastor friends and I started a pastoral fellowship eight years ago, which we now call the Pastoral Fellowship for Practical Theology. In this article I will explain how we started this fellowship, who we intend to bring together, what we hope to accomplish, what our meetings consist of, and the fruit we’ve seen so far.

It is a common scenario. You move to a new area. You get settled at your new residence and job. You get the kids settled in school. Where you settle in a local church often times becomes a longer, more drawn out task. After checking out all the churches you desire to visit, here are 4 questions to ask yourself as you narrow the search to make a decision.

It is safe to say the Reformers never had to tackle this question. However, it is certainly one we face now and has important implications to the fruitfulness of a pastor’s ministry today. As this question has forced its way on the scene as a result of our growing technological advances, so have strong opinions on this matter. Many of these opinions are nothing more than preferences.

When we as pastors are attacked or criticized by those in the church, we have the option to defend ourselves. We can fight back. We can argue our case. In most cases, it is a “lose-lose” battle any time a pastor’s wife embraces the task to defend her husband. Therefore, what is she to do? Here are 3 suggestions.

Here are 10 qualities I look for that I feel are not necessarily deal breakers, but nonetheless, are very important for pastoral ministry and fall within the framework of the fruit of the spirit in a Christian’s life:

Aspiring pastors are usually chomping at the bit to become pastors. Rightly so. Because of this, those aspiring to pastoral ministry often times dream to the future to one day serve in that capacity and miss some very significant ways he can serve his wife now that he cannot once he becomes the pastor preaching every week. Here are a few of those ways:

Charles Spurgeon is celebrated as one of the most gifted, dedicated, brilliant, and impacting preachers and pastors in history. This honorable distinction is given by most because of his piercing, articulate, Christ-centered, and Word-driven sermons that were heard and have been read by thousands all over the world. Because of the popularity that Spurgeon reached in his ministry, his faithfulness as a very young pastor is often overlooked.

Speech fillers are such a part of our natural communication style that they can be difficult to identify and overcome, but there is hope. Here are a few ways I have tried to face my own unnecessary speech fillers and helped others identify and overcome their own.

A few years ago had the privilege of baptizing a new believer. I quickly came to realize this was not going to be the typical discipleship scenario (as if there is one). He is an elderly man who cannot see well and more importantly cannot read or write.

Dear brothers, if you find yourself discouraged, angry, wondering why some of your people do and say what they do and you can’t take it any more…do not forget the debt to mercy you owe. It is a debt greater than you and I could ever payback. It is a debt that should weigh heavier on our joyful hearts than the most difficult person in our church.

God calls pastors not to be superman, but to be faithful. As pastors seek to be faithful every day in their ministries, God’s sovereign will is being accomplished. Why is that not enough? Because a pastor brings with him to his church his own brokenness, personal struggles, and unhealed scars deep in his soul where God’s grace in the gospel has yet to affect. Pastors struggle to find their true and full identity in Christ and when pastors fail to show up secure in Christ, they show up in these false ways

A pastor needs to be trained not to be reactionary regarding the dysfunction and turmoil he finds, but to have a clear plan on how his time should be spent during his first few years, regardless of what problems he inherits. The best approach for a pastor, especially when entering a dysfunctional, dying congregation is to simply be a pastor to those people.

I get it. It is hard to invest and train leaders, then send them out. It is hard to deeply love others only to let them go. But I am reminded in encouraging notes like this that despite the real personal loss pastors and churches feel, it is still worth sending them. Pastors, pour yourself into young men and women. Train them. Raise them up. Send them out.