Pastors must resist the temptation to respond to the emotional and psychological stress of the ministry by being thin-skinned or hard-hearted. We can have thick skin and tender hearts by keeping our eyes focused on the Lord and his sacrificial love.
Church Leadership
As a pastor, it will always be a little awkward to advocate for your salary and benefits. Although it may feel self-serving, we are fulfilling our call by accepting the responsibility to manage our lives, family, and ministry. Here are five practical tips to negotiating your salary with search teams and personnel committees.
Amid turmoil, how can a pastor avoid joining the unusually high number of pastors voluntarily leaving the ministry? This final article in our series about personal spiritual disciplines speaks to perseverance in those disciplines to maintain in stressful times. It’s what the Barna Group referred to as “pastoral resilience.”
Even a faithful, experienced pastor can struggle to know what to say or do when suffering touches his family. For the pastor seeking to lead his wife through a difficult season of motherhood with gospel hope and comfort, here are six ways my husband—by God’s grace—has cared for me.
Our experience with foster care in our own family and encouraging and advocating for foster care and adoption in our church has taught us a few ways a pastor can help cultivate a heart for foster care in his church.
Pastors can find answers to questions of authority in the only document God has given us that reveals His authority, motivation, goal, and outcomes of His authority. These are vastly different from any of the motivations, goals, and outcomes stemming from human authority.
As we age and continue our pastoral calling, we commonly experience a decline in our zeal for evangelism. To overcome these obstacles, we must recognize the issue and consciously resist sin, focus on our calling, evaluate our priorities, and be intentional in our evangelistic efforts. How do you, my friend and fellow pastor, need to …
I asked my friend Dave, who has been a pastor for 70 years, what the secret of his longevity was. He answered, “The grace of God, the will of God, and the love of the people.” Over the years, I have learned many things from Pastor Dave. Here are six lessons.
In the American church context, we sometimes put pastors on pedestals, creating a ministry culture in which the pastor is the center of attention. The result is that the pastor forgets he also needs the same nourishment as those under his care. I want to share some thoughts on preventing a culture of pastoral idolatry …
Developing Godly leaders takes time and commitment. But as you are faithful to pour into the next generation, you will see fruit over time that will lead to some of your greatest joy in ministry.