In March 2023, The Barna Group reported the following: It is a sobering, even shocking revelation. One that must be addressed immediately. Picture it this way. Imagine a gathering of 100 pastors, all seated in chairs in your church sanctuary. Fifty-nine of them sit facing the pulpit, awaiting the Word of the Lord with […]
October is Pastor appreciation month, a month when we make a special effort as churches and individuals to thank our pastors for their ministry to us as undershepherds of Jesus Christ. “Every Christian’s life is meant to be a parable of Jesus. But pastors are particularly suited to this because so much of our lives […]
I have a friend who started a retirement account many years ago, one of those something-something-Bs. He thought it best to prepare for the future, not only his but that of his children and their children. He wanted to do all he could to set in place a healthy scenario for himself and his family […]
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 FOCUS Have you ever noted how divided our pastoral focus can become? We pay attention to so many things but firmly fix our gaze […]
It was a Sunday I’ll never forget. As a staff pastor, I had just finished leading worship in our morning service. As I did every Sunday, I exited the platform through a door to the right, descending the steps into our office suite. Closing the door behind me, I turned to my right, entering a […]
Eugene Peterson (best known for “The Message”) in his book titled “Letters to a Young Pastor,” a compilation of letters from him to his son about pastoring, writes that the modern emphasis on leadership in the pastorate is a damaging trend. There are several reasons he believes this is true, chiefly that leadership is mostly […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: In addition to writing, Lydia Jay and her husband pastor Harrison Avenue Assembly of God in Harrison, OH. Along with their four daughters, they live in nearby Cincinnati. To learn more about the Jays and their ministry, click here. On Good Friday of this year (2023), my husband had the opportunity to be […]
A Journey Survey of Staff Pastors – Part II Two weeks ago, Journey published the first of a two-part survey on the relationship between lead and staff pastors. In that article, we presented the responses of staff pastors to two questions: Question One – USE: How have your lead pastors used you well – made […]
A Journey Survey of Staff Pastors – Part I Pastor, a pastoral coaching question for you: “When it comes to your pastoral staff: are you a user, abuser, or steward?” Do you use them – you make good use of them as God’s called ones in leading your church ministries, seeing them as people and […]
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people […]
© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching