Volume 7: Issue 5 | Nov 2024
The Pastor, His Job, and His Call: Special Edition
This issue of A Little Strength concerns pastors, who are called to do what, exactly?
We encourage you to read this issue and consider your own calling.
We also hope the articles will help you better understand, appreciate, and pray for pastors.
Why Become a Pastor?
(A Guide for Free Men)
It is customary, when addressing would-be pastors, to quote Charles Spurgeon, a famous London Baptist preacher from two hundred years ago: “If you can do anything else, do it. If you can stay out of the ministry, stay out of the ministry.… If any student in this room could be content to be a newspaper editor or a grocer or a farmer or a doctor or a lawyer or a senator or a king, in the name of heaven and earth, let him go his way.” What I think most men mean by quoting it is, “You should only go into pastoral ministry if you have such a burning God-given fire within you to do it, that you would be miserable doing anything else.”
I disagree. That burning desire was not what led me into the pastorate, it is not what keeps me in the pastorate, and I’m not sure it’s a great way to approach whether to be a pastor. Free men can be happy doing many things. I have a long list of things I enjoy doing, and from time to time have wished I were doing them full-time! I’m also happy to say that in my youth, growing up the son of an elder and a deaconess in a Reformed Presbyterian church plant, no one pressured me to become a pastor. In fact, my father went out of his way to encourage my other interests (law, architecture).
So why did I become a pastor, and what has kept me at it?
A few years ago an intern who is a very good listener asked me that question and waited while I searched for an answer. Finally, out it came, “I thought it was the finest thing I could do.” My answer surprised me! It was a good and true answer.
A beautiful work
In 1 Timothy, Paul starts out his list of requirements for overseer (“bishop” for lovers of the King James Version) by saying, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task (3:1).” The word translated noble means “beautiful, good, noble, fine.” The word is a common one. When an unnamed woman poured a jar of absurdly expensive perfume on Jesus, bystanders chided her. But Jesus shut them up: “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me, (Mark 14:6).” What she did was extravagant, unasked-for, and in financial terms did no one any good — least of all the woman. And yet Jesus praised it with the same words Paul used to describe the role of an overseer, elder, or pastor.
Life is like a math problem with many variables. That is, you can choose to do many things, but you can’t do them all. The wise person chooses the best thing to do with his time, energy, and resources. The woman who anointed Jesus chose the finest, and so should all of us. To be clear, the pastorate is not the finest work that everyone can do. But when I looked at my interests and opportunities, I knew it was the finest thing I could do.
What is fine, beautiful about the pastorate?
It is a fine, beautiful thing to see Christ formed in people.
Recently I asked this question: what does “productivity” look like for pastors? Farmers try to increase their yield per acre. Scholars want to increase their output of high-quality journal articles or books that other scholars cite often. What are pastors trying to do more of, and better? Here is the pastor’s task: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Col 1:28-29).” The pastor’s goal is not so many sermons preached, pews filled, or visits made. Those things are just inputs to the goal of helping people mature in Christ, until Christ crowds out sin and selfishness and sloth.
This “productivity” uses means that are inherently mysterious: preachers preach, administer the sacraments, pray, and exhort in public and private, but these means only “work” if the Spirit makes them work. Without God’s Spirit, our words just bounce off our hearers, and the sacraments are only odd little ceremonies.
The mysterious nature of pastoral work is humbling. Neither God nor man automatically rewards a pastor’s energy and intelligence with success. And if we boast in ourselves, we rob God of his glory. This fact is always true, but when we preach and teach, we are very clearly in God’s domain. It is as though God says to every preacher, “Humble yourself, or I will humble you.”
The mysterious work of the pastorate is awesome as well as humbling. Where else do you get a front row view of people maturing, changing, conquering sin, becoming useful to the Lord, like you do as a pastor? More than any other kind of work, pastors get a close-up view of what God is doing in the hearts of those they serve. All that work Paul did? It was bent towards getting people closer to Jesus, so that Jesus could heal them. A pastor at his best is like one of the friends who dug through the roof to get their paralytic friend in front of the Lord (Mark 2:3-12).
It is a fine, beautiful thing to study and teach the Scriptures.
Pastors are “knowledge workers” as well as shepherds. To be a “workman who need not be ashamed” we need to “labor in preaching and teaching (2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Tim. 5:17).” That means becoming an expert in the Bible. While some pastors spend too many hours at their desks, there is no way around it: you must spend intensive hours studying. That is tough. You will have to do the work, and not cut corners. You will have to resist the temptation to simply waste time.
I am in my mid-40s. I still squirm at my desk. I still procrastinate. And yet, when I buckle down and work without distraction, I find the work of diving deep into Scripture (and related fields: history and theology) absorbing, engrossing, even blissful. Connections make themselves known at odd moments. I see Christ in Old Testament passages where I never saw him before. I gain a deeper understanding of doctrines that I have long believed. Only when I have arrived at those places “the long way round” am I able to guide others there in my preaching, teaching, and counseling.
I was not the athletic kid in school; I was the smart kid. This bothered me for much of my life. For one thing, I knew that my intellectualism was lazy: I read books and talked about things many people didn’t understand because it was easier than being a team player (and it gave me some sort of status). For another, I associated manliness with being a maker, someone who did things with his hands. I know now that, when the Spirit uses my work, I am a maker, shaping people into the image of Christ.
However, as a pastor I find that in fact I need to work with my hands, like carpenters do. Christ brings heaven and earth together. He was a carpenter! It is good to work with your hands — good for your soul, not just for sermon illustrations or being “able to relate.” Doing hard work with my body (weight training in the past, renovation work more recently) is indispensable if I want my mind to function.
And I’ll add something that I have never heard others say about the pastorate: it calls for enormous creativity. Creativity is not just making fine art or literature; it is asking, “How could this be better?” about just about anything. How could this be a more compelling sentence? a tighter sermon? a better-run meeting? a healthier marriage? a more accurate interpretation? a more effective session? a more supportive presbytery? a more joyful worship service? Pastoring requires patience, but it also requires impatience with the way things are, in search of making things better. Christ gave us creative energy and wants us to use it.
It is a fine, beautiful thing to do what is hard.
For a guy who taught that works couldn’t save you, Paul worked hard. “I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Col. 1:29).” “Straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13b-14).” “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me (1 Cor. 15:10b).”
Why take on a very hard task? If you’re not a believer, you might take on a challenge as a way of saving yourself, like the Jewish sprinter Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire: “And now, in one hour's time, I will be out there again. I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor — 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence.” Running for your life (or working for your salvation) is terrifying.
But what if the continuity and security of your soul has been given to you as a gift? What if you don’t have to justify your existence? What if there is nothing to run from — just Someone to run to? Would you stop running? Or would you run from sheer delight? David writes that the Sun rises and, “like a strong man, runs its course with joy (Ps. 19:5).” Jesus took up his cross for our salvation, but also calls us to “take up our crosses and follow him (Lk. 9:23).” His cross is sufficient for our salvation, but he calls us to take up our own cross as well.
Set aside the blessings that pastoring can bring to others. Maybe God calls some of us to do this hard thing (and all of us to do some hard thing) because it is delightful. An artist may paint to exhaustion, whether he ever makes a penny from his art or not. A child runs until she is winded, from delight. Before there were product endorsements and NFL contracts, people ran marathons and played football. We do fine things, especially very hard fine things, because they are so fine and therefore compelling to do and fun. The hardness is part of the fineness.
Author Kevin Kelly gives this advice, “Only apply to jobs you are unqualified for.” Even if your character matches biblical requirements, you aren’t qualified for this job. But that is one of the things that makes it worth doing. Pastoring will challenge you mentally and physically: the brain work is hard and extensive, and the stress is formidable. Before I was ordained, RP pastor Rich Ganz (a well-known fitness nut) said to me, “Daniel, to be a pastor you have to be in excellent physical condition!” At the time I thought this was a bit silly. After all, this is an indoor job with no heavy lifting. Since then, I have come to agree. Why? Because without exercise and controlling your intake of food and stimulants, the stress is going to kill you.
But being a pastor is also spiritually challenging. You will have to develop discipline: especially discipline in prayer. Without praying a lot, you will fail. Being a pastor will make you miserable when you are in sin, including, for the married, unresolved conflict with your wife. If you are not showing kindness and mercy and grace toward others, you are going to squirm at the prospect of preaching Christ’s kindness and mercy and grace. It will teach you to “keep short accounts.” It will force you to open the Word hungry for wisdom and personal guidance, as well as for sermon fodder. Over and over, week by week, you will have to throw yourself at the foot of the cross, pride burned down by conviction of sin, and the charred remains crushed into powder by the power of grace.
My wife Esther and I have asked the same question a hundred times: why are so many pastors burning out and leaving the pastorate? I’ll crib someone else’s observation: men who entered the pastorate in the 1970s or 1980s knew it was a tough job. But some men who entered in the 1990s or 2000s thought it would be easier than it turned out to be. This was the “Young, Restless, and Reformed” era when Calvinist megachurches came into being. Things were looking up, and we could imagine ourselves as the next Timothy Keller, or Mark Driscoll before his humiliating downfall. Hardships are bad enough when you expect them. They are much harder to take if you expect things to go well. Possibly that is a factor in my generation’s (I was ordained in 2007) high burnout rate.
My sober recommendation: go in expecting it to be hard. Expect your church or church plant to crater. Expect to get sick. Expect people to leave. Expect to get falsely accused of wrongdoing in your presbytery. Expect your church to stay small. Or maybe God will send you the challenges that come with expansion and blessing (those are harder, in many ways!). But determine that you will do what is right, glorifying to the Lord Jesus, and gracious, no matter what. The “mystery” applies to you too: Christ is formed in you when you face hardship and believe the gospel, that his death and resurrection will redeem you and your life. That doing what is hard for the goodness and delight of it, you will at length arrive at the goal of your race, and he will be waiting.
Pastoring is a “growth industry”
I am a pastor in the RPCNA. In my denomination I see Boomer pastors retiring, and relatively few GenX pastors. Thankfully the Millennials are stepping up, but there are likely to be plenty of “job openings” for a while. This is partly due to a quarter century-long focus on church planting. In addition, the need for service in non-US fields remains effectively infinite (more on that in a moment).
But don’t think that the only places for ministry are RPCNA congregations or foreign missions. The USA is a big giant mission field — filled with existing churches that are starving for the Word. The opportunities for pastoral ministry are not bounded by our denominational walls. In my part of the country, at least, there are countless small historic churches that need preachers. I know one nearby pastor who cares for two mainline churches, ten minutes’ drive from each other. Their services start sixty minutes apart. I don’t know how he gets to the second service in time! This kind of pastor-sharing has become common. It is no secret that the big old Protestant denominations are now dominated by theological liberalism (most of them) and that they are shrinking at a breathtaking rate (all of them).
Many of the congregations are less committed to heresy and immorality (in short, they are more conservative) than their denominations. That conservatism represents an enormous opportunity for men from the RPCNA or other theologically strong backgrounds to preach the gospel in churches with deep roots in their communities. As a church planter, I can tell you that we have longed for that rootedness. A dying old Protestant church is a tragedy; an apostate one is an abomination; but a revived and recovering one is a triumph for the kingdom of God and the glory of Christ. Can we share our doctrinally sound, upright preachers with our mainline friends, and see what God does? (For that to happen we may need to make some mainline friends.)
Think about it. I was speaking with a Malaysian woman in our congregation about missions around the world. She said immediately and with perfect seriousness, “The United States is the hardest mission field.” Viewing our country that way may change the way we think about people who attend liberal churches. They are not (for the most part) enemies to fight or false brothers to avoid. They are starved sheep, who need to be fed by the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls (1 Peter 2:25). So maybe we need to speak of them with less judgment and more compassion.
But, of course, the largest field for pastoral work is not the United States (whether or not it is the hardest field). It is everywhere else in the world. Over dinner, the director of RP Global Missions told Esther and me, “Right now, at least, money is not the issue. People are the issue.” There is a need for preachers and trainers all over the world. Maybe you are called to that work. Or maybe you can preach in America and thereby free up another man to go. Or maybe the Lord is calling you to chaplaincy, in the military, a hospital, or a prison. What Jesus said remains true: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Luke 10:2).”
Of course, there are bad reasons to become a pastor, too.
Pastors are not men who are literally incapable of other work (and of course, Spurgeon didn’t mean that). This is not 18th century England where you become the village rector because you are a friend of the local squire’s sister-in-law. But many men get into this business with wrong, or at least mixed, motives. Here are some bad reasons people become pastors:
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To gain status or respect. Listen to the warnings of Christ (Matthew 23:1-7). Love the glory that comes from God, not man (John 12:43). (I’ll share a secret: being an RP pastor is not the path to fame.)
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To shore up a shaky faith. Being a pastor will not doubt-proof you (though spending lots of time in the Bible may help). If you are racked with doubt, either about your own salvation or about the truth of the gospel, get help from mature believers. You need to be given medicine, not dispense it (for now). But perfect certainty, like perfect holiness, must wait till heaven. Until heaven, take your eyes off yourself and put them on Christ. You may find in doing so that the assurance you were chasing comes as a free gift.
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Because you enjoy LARPing (Older readers should look up LARP: it will teach you something about today’s young ‘uns.) Some men want to pretend they are Spurgeon, others Richard Baxter, others Ian Paisley, others N. T. Wright. You are none of them, and you shouldn’t be. Your times are different from theirs, and your ministry will look different. Be yourself by imitating Christ.
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To please family or spouse. Expectations are what people want from you (legitimately or not). Duty is what you owe them — and that is something you must figure out in prayer and solitude, and good outside counsel. The only one who can tell you that becoming a pastor is your duty is the Lord. Take family tradition seriously, but not as the final word. And put selfish ambition to death, whether it is your own or (as occasionally happens) your wife’s.
You can look at pastoring as something you are driven to do. But I think it’s better to focus on the beauty of the goal — presenting people mature in Christ to God — and on the beauty of the work — wrestling with the Word and with God in prayer. If this is on your heart to do, good! Ask older people who know you well and won’t flatter (or dismiss you): “Do you see in me the gifts and sanctification to explore the pastorate?” If the answer is no, pay attention to your heart: do you feel relief and the lifting of a burden, or a healthy challenge to become holier and better, the exhilaration of picking up the gauntlet?
Free men do not have to become pastors. Even the apostles, chosen by Jesus, had to choose to leave their nets and follow him. But real freedom is the freedom to choose a noble task and then stick with it. What is the finest thing you can do?
– Daniel Howe
What Is the Pastor's Job?
Introduction - What isn’t his job?
An old friend used to joke that when young he worked summers on a Kansas farm. Hard! Then he got a job in a steel mill: lunch and bathroom breaks, and head home at 5:00 p.m., less hard. He became a teacher, done by 3:00 p.m. and summers off. Can it get easier? Yes. He became a preacher – work only one day a week.
Another story: A kindergarten teacher asked each child in her class what work father and mother did. One answered, “My mom stays home and takes care of my little brothers. My dad is a pastor. He preaches God’s Word, and he kicks people out of church who sleep with their mothers.” The teacher checked with her church-going mother, who explained, “He must be preaching on I Corinthians.”
So, what does a pastor do? Here are thirteen things, with subpoints, followed by Bible quotations and sometimes a few stories to convince you that these things really are the pastor’s job. In a small church, the pastor needs to work at every one of these jobs and be superb at one or two.
Do not skip reading the Bible quotations. They’re God’s Word! Quotations are largely from the English Standard Version or the Good News Bible. The first in each set will be marked and if the others are unmarked, they are from the same translation.
Sociological note 1: a pastor must be a “generalist,” that is, he must know something about all kinds of things. He doesn’t just write programs to run on computers. He doesn’t just put engines into new cars. He is like a shepherd of sheep, who finds them food and water, protects them from wolves and thieves, puts them to bed at night, shears the sheep in the spring, keeps the rams from fighting, helps the ewes give birth, and maybe even milks them after their lambs have been weaned.
Sociological note 2: a pastor’s wife and children are somewhat involved in his work like a New England farmer’s family helping him with his farm. You can’t be hospitable without a hospitable wife and reasonably cooperative kids. Before cell phones, my wife might answer the phone and the caller would talk to her like she was the assistant pastor until she could interrupt with, “May I get Bill?” Someone may stop a pastor’s wife at church to talk, assuming she knows more than she does. A pastor’s children know what their father does for a living. This is a good thing: there is no need for a pastor to take part in “Take your daughter to work day.”
I. PREACH
Hundreds of books tell men, formerly called Ministers [of the Word], how to preach. The main job of Seminaries is to prepare men to teach and preach, teaching them languages, theology, and church history. Seminaries do not effectively teach a pastor how to do the next twelve parts of his job, that require strong godly character, practical wisdom, the support of his wife, the examples of other elders, hope, faith, and love.
Here is how to preach:
1. Tell ‘em what the Bible says! Do not censor it! Study it well, plan what you will say, and then say it in plain English, without fancy Latinate words. Tell stories like Jesus did: we call his stories “parables”, and ours “illustrations.”
2. If you see something that needs to be changed in your congregation, evaluate both how important it is and how much everyone agrees it is important. For example, while some people may love to debate head-coverings, it is slanderous gossip that actually destroys churches. Hats in church might be worth a single, carefully done sermon — at most — but gossip and slander will need to be addressed repeatedly.
So, if you want to encourage families to practice daily family worship, then mention it every third sermon or so, give instructions in how to do it, pray for change, and be patient. If a congregation is not hospitable, then practice hospitality yourself and also point it out in the Scripture as often as possible.
Good habits grow slowly, like garden plants. Don’t preach one sermon on what needs doing and then quit. Think how often you say to your child, “Remember to say thank you.” If you keep at it, in two or three years, new habits can become ingrained in your congregation.
3. Don’t be afraid to “get off the topic.” It is an ancient rhetorical device called the excursis. Just keep it under control and get back to your announced topic or Bible passage. If you want to read examples of the excursis, read old sermons by Chrysostom or Augustine.
4. Preach from notes or extemporaneously. Can you imagine Jesus, Peter, or Paul preaching while reading a manuscript? Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact! Then maybe you can ask an impromptu question, like Augustine sometimes did, “Do you understand? No? Let me try again.”
5. Three points, one point, verse by verse – structure your sermon to fit the part of the Bible you are explaining that day.
6. Be ready with something to say at any time, in any place. Preach the Word when it is convenient and when it is not. Every preacher should have an “elevator pitch,” a term from the business world.
7. There are places where preaching is different from the regular pulpit ministry: funerals, weddings, baptisms, communion table addresses, conferences, school chapels, nursing homes, and community gatherings. Learn how to handle each situation.
8. Prepare carefully for more than the sermon. Make announcements clearly: congregational news and activities help to bring your people together as a single body. When you pray, pray to God, not to the people in yet another sermon. Give clear directions on when to stand or sit or find a place in the Bible. Read the Bible with liveliness and reverence: it is God’s Word, not yours. Asking God in a brief prayer for enlightenment before reading Scripture is a good practice. Let the precentor know before the church service what Psalm selections to prepare to lead: even talented musicians can be caught unawares by an unfamiliar tune.
9. Officiating the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are crucial parts of a preacher’s job. Give them prayerful preparation.
10. For many through the centuries, preaching included writing and publishing. Take every opportunity to write and publish – but ONLY IF you have something to say to a wider audience than your congregation.
Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth (II Timothy 2:15 GNB).
In the assembly of all your people, LORD, I told the good news that you save us (Psalm 40:9).
Jesus drew near and said to them, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:18-20).
For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake (II Corinthians 4:5).
Until I come, give your time and effort to the public reading of the Scriptures and to preaching and teaching (I Timothy 4:13).
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience (II Timothy 4:1-2).
About #4: A preacher began printing out his sermon one morning. But his computer broke! He made sketchy notes and preached from them. It went so well he never used a manuscript again.
About #4: “The ministers of religion have no warrant for reading their sermons to the congregation (Declaration and Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 24.7, adopted 1806, replaced 1980).” Preaching extempore was the well-nigh universal practice of the Reformed churches of Scotland.
About #6: My father, the Reverend Robert Edgar, took a young Robert McMillan to see something new at Macy’s Department Store in NYC: a TV. You spoke into a camera in one room and folks watched you in another room. When it was his turn to speak into the camera, Bob Edgar announced, “I am a minister of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.”
II. MANAGE YOUR HOUSEHOLD WELL
1. Love your wife as Christ loves the church. Take care that she has friends besides you, especially in a new place. Unhappy wives end pastorates.
2. A pastor and his family are public people. Everyone sees a pastor’s misbehaving children. Of course, they should behave well because they should behave well. If anyone tries to shame your children on account of their father’s being a preacher, protect your kids’ souls by rebuking the offender. Do it in public if the offense was public.
3. Make sure you – or your wife – handle your family finances well. If you need help, ask for it and then follow it. Chaotic finances ruin pastorates.
4. You or your wife may need to earn extra money. It is your job to provide for your children. A second job may even benefit your ministry: Paul became close with his future partners Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, because he worked at the same craft they practiced, making tents.
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail (I Corinthians 13:4-7 GNB).
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Colossians 3:18-21 ESV).
He must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect. For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God (I Timothy 3:4-5 GNB)?
About #2: A preacher’s son was giving his mother a very hard time in church one day. The preacher left the pulpit, went to his son, and told him, “Knock it off. Now!” He did. After that, the son knew he was not safe from father’s wrath while he was preaching. The congregation approved.
About #3: A friend and his wife kept precise accounts. He met with the deacons: “Can you help me be more careful with our money? Here are our records.” The deacons looked at the accounts carefully and said, “We need to pay you more” and gave him a 25% raise.
About #4: When my mother in 1939 knew that the man she would marry planned to go to Seminary, she switched her college major from English to Business.
III. KEEP THE PEACE
1. It is the job of pastors to help quarreling people make peace.
2. If you have a troublemaker in the church, warn him once, warn him twice, and then prepare to expel him from the church.
3. The worst fights occur when the church or the elders divide into factions. When that happens, quickly take the issue to a higher court, and thank God for Presbyterian Church government.
4. Constantly “read the room:” who is talking with whom, who never talks to anyone, which two haven’t spoken for a year, who insists on always getting his way. Pay attention and bring people together before fights erupt. Pay special attention to family quarrels. Such problems rarely solve themselves.
5. Whatever happens in a church, the pastor should always be the adult in the room who keeps his cool when others do not. Clearly taking sides on an issue that is not a matter of doctrine is bad form in a pastor.
Euodia and Syntyche, please, I beg you, try to agree as sisters in the Lord. And you too, my faithful partner, I want you to help these women; for they have worked hard with me to spread the gospel (Philippians 4:2-3 GNB).
They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all (Mark 9:33-35).”
Some men came from Judea to Antioch and started teaching the believers, “You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised as the Law of Moses requires.” Paul and Barnabas got into a fierce argument with them about this, so it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others in Antioch should go to Jerusalem and see the apostles and elders about this matter (Acts 15:1-2).
Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude toward everyone (Titus 3:2).
If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart. If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart (Mark 3:24-25).
Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace (Proverbs 15:18).
But keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know that they end up in quarrels. As the Lord’s servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher (II Timothy 2:23-24).
Give at least two warnings to those who cause divisions, and then have nothing more to do with them (Titus 3:10).
IV. DO THE WORK OF AN ADMINISTRATOR (“BISHOP” KJV)
1. Church life requires planning. The pastor is the chief planner, which is why the Bible calls him “overseer,” as well as teacher.
2. He must respond quickly to emails, texts, and phone calls. Not getting back in a timely fashion to someone who wants your ear can leave plans unsettled, problems not addressed, and people irritated.
3. With the other elders, the pastor needs to appoint someone to run the Sabbath School program, print a Lord’s Day bulletin, make up a schedule of activities, plan hosting official visitors, make up a prayer calendar, send notices to the Witness, greet people at the door, call and visit the sick, plan and schedule session meetings, attend to Presbytery matters, and whatever else needs planning.
4. The pastor needs to know which people can do what jobs and ask them; give clear directions; help when they need help; and if they don’t do their jobs, recruit someone else who will. Can a pastor do all jobs himself? Maybe, but he will tire quickly and might suffer what was once called a “nervous breakdown” and today is called “burnout,” which means, “I need to get out of this job! Now!”
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach (Titus 1:5-7 ESV).
Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them…Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood (Acts 20:17-18, 28).
Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace… But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel (II Corinthians 8:6, 16-18).
We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully (Romans 12:4-8).
About #1: Even in churches with bishops supervising pastors in a diocese, a pastor is still overseer of his parish. In a large church, with a secretary the pastor still should do a significant amount of administration.
About #2: Before the telephone, people in need went to the pastor personally. Phone culture, which reigned until several decades ago, required that people let a call last for ten rings before giving up and trying again later. The cacophony of phone, phone with answering service, cell phones, texts, emails, and social media messaging has not improved communication. But a shepherd must be available to his sheep, so he must keep track of people trying to get in touch with him and answer quickly.
About #4: There was a fad some years back that had churches making an inventory of peoples’ “gifts,” calling each “gift” a “ministry.” The problem is that people often are mistaken about what they can do well and begin wanting to do jobs they can’t do well or should not be doing at all, like women preaching. People may begin demanding to be “allowed to exercise their spiritual gift” and become discontented when not given the opportunities they want. “Gifts inventories” are more disruptive than helpful – but a good administrator knows who can do what well.
V. GIVE WISE ADVICE
1. People often ask for advice, today called “counsel”, but giving wise advice is a far wider job than what turns up in counseling classes. The pastor himself must be a wise man.
2. Fathers and mothers may not know how to raise their children. The pastor should be able to give them advice.
3. Husband and wife may quarrel and need help to stop it.
4. Someone may be refusing to eat and need help to overcome anorexia. The pastor should be wise enough in some such instances to send a person to someone else for help. Only a foolish pastor thinks he can handle all problems by himself.
Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good (Hebrews 10:24 ESV).
Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted (Galatians 6:1).
About #3: A young couple called the pastor. He went to their apartment. “I’m glad you called me quickly,” he began. The wife kept asking her husband the same foolish question, and he kept saying the same cruel things to her. Instruction to wife about her behavior: never ask that question again. Instruction to wife about his behavior: “If your husband says cruel things like you have told me, call me immediately, even at 2:00 a.m., and quote exactly what he said.” Years later, they prosper, with many children.
About #3: A wife announced she wanted to divorce her husband. The pastor visited. Wife had no complaints about her man, saying simply, “I think I can do better.” She soon left him and the children, damaging four people, herself included. Sometimes there is no wise advice that will avert tragedy.
About #3: A wife called late at night. She and her husband were in a physical fight. The pastor got the associate pastor to go with him. Their apartment had a large window one could crash through. They listened to the couple and then told the husband to go elsewhere for a week until tempers cooled. As they left the apartment, the associate pastor said, “They did not tell me about this in seminary! There were some bad vibes in there.” Yes, pastors have to deal with “bad vibes.”
VI. ENCOURAGE AND EXHORT
1. People need more than to know the right thing. They need to be encouraged to do it.
2. It is not enough to announce some church activity. The pastor should be a cheerleader to encourage people to be part of it.
3. The preacher makes the “outward” Gospel call, from the pulpit and in person, inside and outside the church. He should not speak in a “take it or leave it” fashion, but with urgency.
4. Often very simple reminders of the truth can encourage folk, as in, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 KJV).”
5. Preachers should directly urge able young men to follow them into the ministry.
Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet (Acts 4:36-37 ESV).
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27).
And with many other words [Peter] bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation (Acts 2:40).”
II Corinthians 8-9 – two chapters of exhortation, encouragement, and arm twisting to give generously to Paul’s fund-raising project for the poor in Jerusalem – can be summarized as 'Do what you started; do not embarrass me or yourselves; God will bless you.'
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him (Acts 16:3).
About #1: A couple quarreled over a misunderstanding about something one of them had said. The pastor visited them with a large sheet of paper, knowing from experience that they were unlikely to resolve their misunderstanding. He said, “Put this on your refrigerator door: YOU MUST FORGIVE EACH OTHER FROM THE HEART.”
About #4: A pastor visited an old woman in the hospital. She was always sad. Finally, hating himself because the only thing he could think to say was an old cliché, he said it: “Remember, above the clouds the sun is always shining.” His next visit, she was smiling. “Oh pastor, you don’t know how much your words helped me last time you were here. Yes, the sun is always shining above the clouds, isn’t it!”
VII. BE HOSPITABLE
1. An elder must be hospitable. Abraham entertained angels unawares – but his wife and servants prepared the meal. To be hospitable, a preacher and his family must work together at hospitality.
2. A pastor sets the example of hospitality for his church by inviting people into his home for food and talk and to stay overnight or longer if necessary.
3. Being at church early to welcome people as well as being at the door to say good-bye is a form of hospitality.
4. If the church eats lunch together, always invite visitors personally to stay and eat.
For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant… but hospitable (Titus 1:7-8 ESV).
An overseer must be…hospitable (I Timothy 3:2).
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly… Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (I Peter 4:8-9).
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me… (Matthew 25:35)
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2).
About #1 and #2: The phone rang at 7:00 p.m. It was a scared girl. She was pregnant. Her car had broken down. She and her husband needed somewhere to stay. Could we help? They were close by. I drove to get them. Newly converted out of gang life in Los Angeles, they had been put on the evangelical testimony trail. She was nineteen and he was twenty. They stayed three nights on our fold-out living room couch, got help with the car from a man in our church, and then left. The man’s name was Angelo, the only angel we have entertained as far as we know.
About #4: A man and wife visited our church and then came back two months later. “What brought you back?” “You invited us to eat lunch with you last time we were here. We could not stay then, but we remembered the invitation.”
VIII. WORK WITH THE ELDERS AND DEACONS AS A TEAM
1. The pastor is an elder among elders, not the boss.
2. Some elders or deacons can be hard to work with. Work at it!
3. Find men whom you trust and ask them for advice when you need it. A pastor just out of seminary who never asks an older pastor for advice can expect to leave the pastorate in five years.
4. Be an active part of the presbytery and synod. Serve on boards and committees as you are able.
5. When appropriate, ask for recommendations from people whom you trust, especially about new men who may be working in your presbytery. But beware: for a variety of reasons, pastors sometimes often fail to tell the whole truth.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV)
Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near (Proverbs 27:10).
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ (I Corinthians 12:12).
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).
About #1: In one church, the pastor cultivated two elders as his special friends. They planned the outcome of session issues before the session ever met and guided things to their planned conclusion. But when the pastor got into trouble, all but these two special elders abandoned him.
About #3: The telephone is a wonderful invention for getting advice. Call and say: “Here is my problem. What shall I do about it? Anyone else you think I should ask for help?”
About #5: A pastor asked old acquaintances in another presbytery whether a certain person would be good as a paid helper in his congregation. He was told, “Yes!” But. The person turned out to be a gossipy troublemaker. When later asked what they were thinking, the old friends explained: “We just had to get that person out of our presbytery.”
About #5: Concerning hiring presbytery camp counselors, pastors sometimes are less than candid, because in those instances they focus more on how being a counselor might help the counselor rather than how she might help the kids under her care.
IX. BE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CHURCH
1. If your church has a prayer meeting, attend it regularly.
2. Go to all church activities, dinners, bowling, retreats, or whatever is planned. Informal activities and non-church talk lay the foundation for communication and trust when troubles arise.
3. Do not skip presbytery conferences. They will be very important to some in your congregation, and they provide a great place to get to know people in and out of your congregation.
4. Attend Synod and presbytery meetings.
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity (I Timothy 4:12 ESV).
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech... (Titus 2:7-8).
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us (Philippians 3:17).
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7).
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock (I Peter 5:1-3).
About #3: A pastor I knew hated going to White Lake Covenanter Camp, but he went every year because his being there was very important to many in his church. Going, he put their interests above his own, as he did in all his ministry.
About #4: Synod and presbytery meeting meals and casual evenings also provide much needed face to face time for pastors, elders, and deacons from across the church to get to know each other beyond the formal meetings themselves.
X. WATCH OUT FOR DANGERS AND WARN THE FLOCK
1. Warn people against false ideas inside the Christian Church, sometimes even in their own congregation or denomination. You need to keep up with new evangelical fads and be able to distinguish between the good, the bad, the ugly, the useless, the dangerous, and the perverse.
2. Warn people against threats coming from outside the Christian Church. Have one foot planted firmly in the Scriptures, and the other foot planted in the unbelieving world around you. Keep up with current ideas and trends that may endanger the saints.
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert…. (Acts 20:28-31 ESV).
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh (Philippians 3:2).
I know... how you... have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false (Revelation 2:2).
About #1: An associate pastor in one church began preaching Rudolf Bultmann’s silliness. When the pastor learned about it, he immediately put him out of the pulpit, even though he was a “good guy” and had “a nice family,” and the congregation liked him. A trial followed.
About #2: The idea that high self-esteem will lead to people being good and hardworking seemed like common sense when it first burst into view in the 1970s. But only the humble can learn, so alert pastors told their flocks to reject this now debunked idea.
About #1 and #2: Most wrong ideas do their harm and then fade, but a residue remains. A residue of Marcion’s rejection of the Creator as an evil harsh god remains, as does the Gnostic disdain for the material body. Knowing church history is very important to being a good pastor who protects his flock from wrong ideas.
XI. KNOW THE FLOCK WELL AND LOVE THEM ALL
1. When in a new congregation, schedule long visits with every member, either in your house, or better yet, in theirs. “Tell me your story.” “How did you become a Christian?” “What are you praying for now?” “How did you and your wife meet?” “What are your hopes and fears for your children?” “What would you like to see happen in your church?”
2. Some members are easier to talk to and like than others. Love them all.
3. Visit the sick. Call the absent. Encourage the wavering. Warn the defiant.
4. Include in your flock purview relatives and friends of your sheep, and people who live near where you preach, or simply everyone who contacts you.
…[T]eaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20-21 ESV).
It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:5).
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity (I Timothy 5:1-2).
Know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds (Proverbs 27:23).
…[P]reach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (II Timothy 4:2).
About #4: Pastors in small towns, rural areas, or urban neighborhoods may be asked to officiate at weddings and funerals of relatives of church members or just people in the community. This is an opportunity to announce the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who never enter a church. An old lesbian couple asked one pastor to help them stop fighting, even though they knew they’d have to hear the Gospel again from him.
About #4: A phone call one evening came from a distressed woman in another city. Her elder had given her my name. She was contemplating suicide. I called a friend I knew in the city and said, “Drop everything and go take X to a suicide prevention center.” She did. On their scale of 1 – 10 of how serious her suicide plan was, they pegged X at an 8. A pastor must be like a fireman (or a shepherd): always on duty.
XII. WATCH YOUR OWN STANDING WITH THE LORD
1. Satan loves to subvert pastors and bring discredit to the church of Jesus Christ. Be warned. Many before you have fallen into grievous and public sin.
2. Remain faithful in your prayers and reading the Bible, especially family worship.
3. Watch out for feelings of self-pity (“They take me for granted.” “I work so hard.” “If I were doing something different, we’d have more money.”) Rebuke self-pity when it begins whining.
4. Your job is to plant, but God gives the increase. Do not be overly jubilant if your church grows – but be happy. Do not be overly miserable if your church shrinks – but be sad.
5. Take your month of vacation, if your congregation gives you one, all at once if possible, to give you and your family a real time of rest. Find the best preachers you can to take your place while you are away. Make sure your congregation knows how to contact the other elders if they need to do so.
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat (Mark 6:31 ESV).
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (II Thessalonians 1:11-12).
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (I Corinthians 3:6-7).
About #5: Presbytery Camp is not part of most pastors’ vacations. Being there is often a stated part of his job, and he may be called upon to do many things at a Camp.
About #2: Keep family worship simple and short: sing a Psalm, read a chapter of the Bible, kneel for prayer, and maybe work on memorizing Scripture or the Shorter Catechism. Include visitors.
XIII. PRAY!
1. The preacher sows the seed of God’s Word, but only God can give the increase. Ask him for it, insistently and in faith.
2. A servant is not greater than his master: people began to follow Jesus and then turned away. Judas, one of the Twelve, betrayed him. Demas left Paul. The same happens to all pastors. No pastorate goes from strength to strength without disappointments and failures.
3. Remember: your knees are crucial to your ministry, to stand before men without fear, and to kneel before God in humility.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2 ESV).
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).
Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you (II Thessalonians 3:1).
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Conclusion
Young pastors, respect the old men in the Synod. They have battle scars you know nothing about – yet. They have persevered in the ministry, sometimes with fewer gifts than you have, or think you have, but they have not abandoned their call. When the time for counsel arrives, DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF REHOBOAM.
Is the pastorate a good life? No. The hours are long, the pay is low, the stress is high, the disappointments are many, and temptations to sin abound. Is the pastorate a good life? Yes. The work is eternally worthwhile, the joys are intense, and a life devoted to the Scriptures puts God’s Word into a man’s heart like nothing else does.
Who should be a pastor? There are many answers to that question. Answer one: a felt “inner call” combined with a given “outward call” from a church. Answer two: the gifts to be a pastor constitute the call, else why would God give a man the gifts of preaching and administering if not for their use in his service? Answer three: a man cannot think of anything more important to be doing with his life than to serve God in his church, so he chooses to do that.
Which men become pastors? Men whom the Lord takes captive and gives as his gift to his church, which he loves and has loved from all eternity.
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:8-12 KJV).
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (II Corinthians 4:7 ESV).
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things (II Corinthians 2:15-16)?
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness…. (II Timothy 4:7-8).
-- William J. Edgar
34 Thoughts for a New Church Planter
On April 20, 2024, I was given the opportunity to give the “charge to the pastor” at the ordination of Ryan Alsheimer as associate pastor of Walton Reformed Presbyterian Church in beautiful Delaware County, New York. Ryan has been called especially to oversee the church plant in Oneonta being “daughtered” out of Walton. Seventeen years earlier, I was similarly ordained as associate pastor of First RPC of Cambridge, for church-planting in Providence, Rhode Island. Slightly modified, these are my reflections after seventeen years of church planting, and they are tailored to Ryan and his situation.
I will add that sometimes a charge is like a perfectly cooked steak. This one is a hamburger: lots of thoughts all ground up together.
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Rest, more than you think you need to. The Lord’s Day is your Sabbath, but you need a day off, and you need vacations.
2. You’re not the Messiah of Oneonta; Jesus is.
3. The things you think will work, won’t. The things you think won’t work, will. Try stuff. If it doesn’t work after a while, try something else.
4. God is jealous for his own glory.
a. Pray for him to be glorified in the various situations you wrestle with, not just for the outcome you want. But do pray for the outcome you want.
b. Pray over small things. The Lord likes us to ask. He answers our prayers to encourage us to keep asking, and so that we thank and praise him.
5. Care less. Be warm and friendly to visitors and have low expectations. Don’t get upset when they visit twice and then disappear. Don’t get excited if they attend for a few months. People are not committed until they are committed, and even then, they’re not always committed. Yet there are friends that stick closer than a brother.
6. Don’t be afraid to fail at church planting. Churches can die in the Lord, just like people. If that happens and you have been faithful, there is no shame.
7. But don’t be quick to give up. Success requires survival. Understand this: success is more frightening than failure. Failure just gets you back to where you were, but success means unknown territory and new responsibilities. Don’t be afraid to succeed.
8. Do not busy yourself with less important things, because you are afraid of what will happen if people do come to worship, do come to Christ. Pastoring is replete with opportunities to do less important things. Guard your time.
9. Your job is to serve, but you need help.
a. When you have a lot of well-taught helpers, you need people who need help.
b. When you have a lot of people who need help, you need helpers.
c. Pray for both.
10. Do something, even if it doesn’t make sense. If you can’t think of a smart outreach plan, adopt a dumb outreach plan. God may decide to bless the effort or teach you through it.
11. It has been said: men overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and they underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years. This is true.
12. For some years (at least five, maybe ten) you will just be figuring out how to do this thing. Then you will have to start teaching other men how to do it.
13. Said Dwight Eisenhower: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Make plans and set goals but hold on to them loosely. God is sovereign, and his plans are not the same as yours. Said Eugene Peterson: Figure out what the Holy Spirit is already doing in a specific person or situation and conspire to work with the Spirit. (By the way, read Eugene Peterson.)
14. What you are doing as a pastor and church planter is making disciples. That includes, but isn’t limited to, one-on-one mentoring, as well as the ordinary means of grace.
15. Some weeks (especially Mondays), you will feel like you are wasting your time. You are not. Remember Isaiah’s frustration and hope: “I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God’ (Isa. 49:4).”
16. Beware “terrarium syndrome”: having a little tiny church to care for, like a little glass tank full of small plants, and just staring at it, willing it to grow. Ryan, it’s good that, for now at least, you have another job. You need something else to do when your church is young and small.
17. If your heart is full of frustration, it will come out in your preaching. You may disguise it, but the hearts of your hearers will detect your anger or disappointment. Call friends and mentors but run to Christ.
18. If your heart is full of Christ, it will come out in your preaching. And if you are proud, the process of writing Christ-centered sermons will bring you to your knees in repentance and humility. Many weeks, writing your sermon will involve a spiritual crisis and renewal. That makes the sermon something that can lead others to Christ.
19. When you screw up, own it. Repent swiftly, as publicly as you sinned, and ask for forgiveness. Your church and family don’t need a Ryan who never does wrong; they need a Ryan who believes in grace.
20. If someone shows up at your church complaining publicly and often about their last church and praising yours, it is only a matter of time before they are at their next church, complaining about yours.
21. Be known by what you are for, not what you are against. Exclusion is necessary sometimes, but don’t lead with it. Be known for grace more than “by grace alone.” Be known for joyful psalm-singing more than “exclusive psalmody.”
22. Network in your area. Quietly practice local presbyterianism by respecting other churches’ leadership and discipline (within reason). Solomon said: “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away (Prov. 27:10b).”
23. You will never regret time with the Lord, time with your wife, or time with your kids.
24. You are playing the longest of long games. The effects of your ministry will last into eternity, and it is impossible to tell what those effects will be, so do what is right and trust God.
25. Humility is a superpower. You can accomplish almost anything if you don’t care about getting praise from other people. Desire “the glory that comes from God,” not the praise of men.
26. Worship is when you lead the congregation to gaze on the crucified and risen Jesus, with love, humility, and expectation. Delight in this. When you preach the Word and celebrate the sacraments, you are feeding the souls of those present (including your own).
27. Sometimes worship will feel like a sacred and exalted meeting with God, sometimes it won’t. Family meals bind families together, sometimes because they feel like special moments, but mostly because they are repeated thousands of times.
28. Worship must be intelligible to visitors, but it is a meeting of God and the congregation.
29. Meet with new people one-on-one. Have a handful of places you like to go. Coffee shops work but they are overrated: they’re too full of pastors. Bring a book: sometimes you’ll get stood up.
30. Track who is at church and who isn’t (or have someone else do it). This is helpful for decision-making and pastoral care. But don’t care too much about those numbers.
31. When you visit and counsel and teach and disciple, you see Christ being formed in those you serve. Delight in this. Usually it will be slow: slow in the right direction is wonderful. Occasionally, it will be sudden. That’s fun too.
32. Learn not to love appreciation. If you love appreciation and don’t get it, you’ll sulk or quit. If you love appreciation and get it, it will never be enough.
33. Know, without doubt, that Oneonta and Walton (the places and the people) belong to your Lord.
a. Satan tested Jesus: “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9). But Jesus passed the test, and publicly proclaims, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18).
b. We may die before Jesus's return, but like Abraham, we are buried in land that will one day be ours.
c. Says an anonymous 2nd century writer of his fellow Christians: “They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers … They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.” (Epistle to Diognetus 5)
d. Citizens of heaven, we will inherit the earth as well. In the meantime, you are an ambassador of the heavenly kingdom, and the church (in Walton and Oneonta) is an embassy. Within it the loyalties and customs of heaven prevail.
e. Find and gather those who belong to the kingdom (some of them don’t know it yet). As Jesus said to Paul in Corinth, “I have many in this city who are my people (Acts 18:10b).”
34. Know also that church planting and pastoring are not your life. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. The weight of the world is on him, not you. You bear only your cross. That is freedom indeed. Work and rest in that freedom.
– Daniel Howe
April 25, 2024
Oneonta, NY
Mark Your Calendars
We note, for your calendars and prayer, upcoming events of interest to Atlantic Presbytery.
Spring Atlantic Presbytery Meeting (Mar 21-22, 2025) Hazleton, PA
Theological Foundations Weekend (TFW) (February 2025, exact dates are forthcoming) East Providence, RI
For juniors in high school up through age 24
Atlantic Spring Retreat (May/June 2025, exact dates are forthcoming) Beach Lake, PA
Grades 7-12
A Little Help?
The Editors do not sell individual subscriptions to A Little Strength. Our goal is to publish with as little labor and financial overhead as possible. Yet mailing paper copies to Atlantic Presbytery churches and maintaining a website aren't free. If you have found A Little Strength to be interesting and profitable,
would you consider sending a contribution?
Make your check out to Elkins Park RPC, designated for A Little Strength,
and send it to the treasurer, at the church's address:
901 Cypress Ave, Elkins Park, PA 19027.
Authors in this issue
Daniel Howe is the pastor of Christ Church RPC (Providence, RI). He is the author of Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath, available from both Crown & Covenant and Amazon.
William J. Edgar is a retired pastor of Broomall RPC (Philadelphia) and the author of the following books:
Chutzpah Heroes: Thirteen Stories About Underdogs with Wit and Courage
History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America 1920-1980: Decade by Decade
7 Big Questions Your Life Depends On
All books are available from both Crown & Covenant and Amazon and other online vendors.