Month: July 2024

Mentoring Ministry Leaders

by Dale, posted in Discipleship, Ministry, Pastoring, Uncategorized

Could the next pastor of your local church come right out of your own congregation?

Pastor, who are you preparing to follow you in ministry?

Are you training men to preach and to lead now and in the future (Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; and 2 Timothy 2:2)?

After COVID, the church where I serve became even more intentional about this task. With our current senior pastor’s leadership, we developed small groups that have continued to meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays in various homes around our area.

Eleven months out of the year, the small group leaders gather for an evening of training. Last year our leaders read Robby Gallaty’s book, Preaching for the Rest of Us: Essentials for Text-Driven Preaching. This was a helpful, practical, and insightful read and discussion.

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Mentoring the Next Pastor

by Dale, posted in Discipleship, Ministry, Preaching, Uncategorized

Pastor, what are you doing now to prepare your congregation for your departure?

“I need to get somebody ready to take my place when I retire.”

This or statements like it have been said many, many times by pastors in their 60’s or 70’s. Often they are accompanied with a bit of fear, concern, doubt, cynicism, and/or failure.

Pastor, what are you doing now to prepare your congregation for your departure? More than that, is your ministry one of mentoring the next generation of pastors? Who are you training?

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Joy in Ministry

by Dale, posted in Joy, Ministry, Pastoring

Pastor, are you enjoying the ministry?

Having been a senior pastor for 40 years, I understand the hard, difficult side of local church ministry. Nevertheless, may I ask again, do you enjoy ministry?

Perhaps today or in recent weeks or even months, you would have to honestly say, “I am not joyful in the ministry.”

Why not?

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