In previous articles, I’ve written often about the graying of the pulpit in the American evangelical church. The average age of pastors is increasing at an alarming rate. Within my own denomination (Assemblies of God), the current aging trajectory says that by the time my five-year old granddaughter graduates college, the average age of an […]
INTRODUCTION In my previous article, I identified two foundational challenges for the church: Reality and Community. We are weak and weakening in both. And the prospects are not promising. Concerning the Church and Reality: Studies reveal the following statistics about the Evangelical Church (see part one for more): In other words, Finally, 1. The statistics […]
All indications say 2022 will be another challenging year for the American church. That means it will be another challenging year for those who lead the church. If we’re going to navigate it in strength, it will require not 20/20 rose-colored glasses, but 22/22 lenses. What are 22/22 lenses? They are lenses that see deeper […]
I am a pastoral coach. I have the joy of pastoring young pastors every day, all day, pastors of all kinds: lead pastors, church planters, staff pastors, missionary pastors, and even pastors of pastors. I love what I am called to do with my life because I love pastors, and I love and greatly respect […]
When I left pastoral ministry to become a missionary, a few pastoral colleagues told me I’d “left the ministry.” Their thinking was that pastoring is “real” ministry, while missions is less than ministry. It’s difficult to believe people can think like this, but some do. But even my denomination unknowingly reinforces this idea. For decades […]
So the pulpit search committee has contacted you, Pastor, and wants to sit down for a formal interview. How do you do to prepare for the meeting? Every pastoral candidate is prepared to answer questions, but are you prepared to ask them? Neglecting this critical aspect of the interview process is a recipe for disaster. […]
This is the second of a two-part October series. October is Pastor Appreciation Month, so it seems fitting to celebrate all of the quality ministers who make up this coaching community and make it what it is: the mutual investment ministry that is Journey Pastoral Coaching. Journey Pastoral Coaching is a missional community. We are […]
“If we preach the whole counsel of God, we shall be accused of extremism, not only by the world but also by a professing Church that cannot endure sound doctrine.” Vance Havner Christian doctrine, the propositional teaching of Scripture, is under attack. Many in the Church today are teaching that doctrine is less rather than more […]
There are those who regard mentoring as only personal or ministry development. Others see it as a hand-holding exercise. During His earthly ministry, Jesus was not of either camp. He saw mentorship as much more. Personal and ministry related? Of course. Developmental? Absolutely. But more importantly, He saw mentoring as global in its reach, eternal […]
NOTE: This article is a part of Journey’s Summer Sabbatical Series, a follower-favorite article from the past that we’re posting again. In this article, we present the results of a Journey survey of pastors in which we asked them about the fundamental or DNA-level challenges and changes that COVID has caused in the church. The […]
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