Tag: Letters

  • Letter #2–Vision

    Dear Small Church Pastor

                You’ve probably preached the verse that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)   That vision, that over-riding thought, that dream for your congregation, is very likely God’s will for your church.  There’s a solid chance that the vision is that “one thing” the Holy Spirit is leading you to achieve for His kingdom.  There is something you can do in order to discover if it is.

                In order to know God’s will for your own life, you had to seek God, talk to him and then listen to His voice.  You’re going to have to do the same things in order to discover His will for your congregation.  You’re going to have to pray, pray, pray, and then, pray some more.  Then be quiet and wait on the Holy Spirit to answer you.

                I know that’s a “WELL, DUH!” statement.  Here’s the rub—Too many of us small church pastors pray and pray and pray, but we don’t stop talking and listen.  We’re too busy to be still in His presence and allow Him to talk to us.

                The enemy has convinced us we are supposed to invest our days and nights in hospital visits, making follow-up calls to visitors—if we ever have any—keeping the church yard neat, overseeing the new bathroom remodel, meetings with the Kiwanis Club or Chamber of Commerce, cooking for the benefit dinner, having board meetings, planning the every month outreach activity, prepping sermons and Bible studies, etc..  The enemy has convinced us we should be doing what everyone else is doing.  He has convinced too many of us that we should be doing that “everything” deal.  (Remember the first letter?)

                None of these activities are bad things to do.  However, they do devour our time and keep us away from being still and waiting on God to speak to us.  If you are going to discover the will of God for your people, His vision for them, then you are going to have to stop doing everything and start doing what matters the most.  Make time to get alone with God in order to have regular conversations with Him. 

                Allow me to share something one of our district leaders once said to a group of pastors.  He said, “When I was pastoring, I should have spent more time in prayer listening to God than I spent in hospitals talking to sick folks and their families.”  There’s wisdom in that statement.  He had discovered the key to being a great leader lies in being a great listener to the Holy Spirit. 

                Invest more time in sharing what’s on your heart with God, then stop talking, be quiet and still, and listen as He shares what’s on His heart with you.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Introductory Letter

    Dear Small Church Pastor,

         Well, here you are.  You’re reading a letter written to small church pastors and their congregations by a small church pastor.  So you’ll know why I’m writing to you, allow me to introduce myself.  Who I am impacts this first letter and all that will follow.

         I live in a rural community of fewer than one hundred people.  The closest town has fewer than one thousand.  My last pastorate, which was a thirty minute drive from where I live, was in a town of about six hundred.  I understand the concept of small when it comes to population.

         My ministry journey began fifty-five years ago as an eighteen-year-old lay speaker who filled in when pastors needed a day off or couldn’t fill their pulpit for some reason.  Fast forward to an Easter Sunday delivering a sunrise message in the front yard of a neighborhood outside a large city in central Florida.  One of my friends’ sons was wonderfully saved that morning, and I knew God was calling me to do something for Him.

         That call from God has taken me to many forms of service for His kingdom.  As a “young adult,” I was called on to teach a Sunday School class.  Then came the Sunday School Superintendent title and responsibilities.  As I matured, service as a deacon/trustee/board member was brought into my life.

         I had taken piano lessons while growing up and had taught myself how to play rhythm guitar.  Those skills put me in the position to be a church musician on the platform.  My wife and I, along with another couple, became the leaders for a youth choir that traveled around our area singing for a few years.

         All this time of service for Christ’s kingdom did not fulfill the call I felt God had placed on my life.  There was a missing element.  After much prayer and seeking God’s guidance, I decided to further my biblical training and understanding of ministry by taking courses of study through a Bible School connected to a university.  The culmination of those courses resulted in my becoming an Ordained Minister of the gospel.

         It was during this period of study and preparation for my ordination that I began to serve as a pastor to small churches.  Over the next twenty years or so, I served four congregations.  My tenures at those congregations were as follows:  two years; 4 1/2 years; 5 1/2 years; 8 years and 4 months.  The congregational sizes at the beginning of these pastorates ranged from 2 (that’s right—two) to fifteen.  If memory serves me correctly, all the congregations were blessed by God and increased in number, up to 45 in regular attendance.  I understand what being the pastor of a very small congregation involves.

         Each small church pastoral opportunity helped me learn important aspects of being a pastor that are never covered in ministerial studies.  But each opportunity also helped me understand the tremendous blessings that go along with being the pastor of a small congregation. 

         I cannot speak to all the trials and opportunities that present themselves to pastors of churches that have hundreds, or even thousands, of members.  But I can speak to the small church pastor.  I can speak to the pastor who wonders if his or her ministry actually is accomplishing anything for the cause of God’s Kingdom.  I can speak to the pastor who doesn’t have an Associate Pastor or a Ministry Team or a Children’s Church Leader or a Nursery Supervisor or a Small Group Director/Sunday School Superintendent.  I can speak to the pastor of a congregation in which the average age is 60+ years.  I can speak to the pastor of the small church that has gone through a destructive split that resulted in loss of critical leadership.  I can speak to the pastor who is questioning why God sent him to a place that had not seen a new salvation in years.

         I know I don’t have all the answers.  I know I can’t give you a “one size fits all” solution.  I know my experiences have not been every experience you have faced or will face.  But I do know the one who can help me help you.

         This is who I am, and this is why I’m writing you these letters.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor