Pastoral Ministry

Over at Ref21 I have posted my final piece in the series on battered pastors.

In this, may final post in the series, I am picking up where I left off in part 4... 4. Devote time to reading works by and about battered pastors. All pastors need companions. This is especially true for the battered pastor who, out of a sense of shame, will draw inward into isolation. It is in...

Liberate (Tullian Tchividjian's outfit) seems to be morphing rather quickly into a denomination complete with a directory of churches . Pause for a long sigh... What is it these days with pastors feeling the need to lead movements? In seeing the Liberate site today, a friend asked me what sadly...

Over at Ref21 , I have posted part four in my series on battered pastors. In this latest post I offer the first three of seven exhortations for battered pastors. All people experience hurt at the hands of others. But we are all also, without exception, the source of hurt. We are all simultaneously...

All people experience hurt at the hands of others. But we are all also, without exception, the source of hurt. We are all simultaneously receivers and inflictors of pain. This is true of pastors. What pastor believes that he can somehow be insulated from the sorts of pain we inflict upon each other...

Over at Ref21 I have posted part three of a series entitled "Battered Pastors." In this particular post I examine what happens when followers become toxic. Much ink has been spilt examining what happens when pastors fail to lead, lead poorly, or behave wickedly as leaders. So much has been made of...

In which I ask some questions of elders... Every organization has leaders and followers. While this structure is sometimes informal, normally it is a deliberate arrangement. Because of this, not everyone is or can be a leader. Organizations are as dependent upon good followers as they are upon good...

Thesaying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desiresa noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of onewife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a...

The call to be a pastor is one of unparalleled privilege. It is a joy, though a sobering one, to preach God's Word for the benefit of God's people. For battered pastors, however, (and they are numerous) the glad labor of being a pastor has become detrimental to their well-being and that of their...

I have shared my concerns about the practices of Pastor Steven Furtick and Elevation Church previously on this blog . I have done this out of a deep concern for the peace and purity of the church and the integrity of the office of pastor. One of my questions has been whether the Southern Baptist...