Pastoral Care

January 31, 2018 Hey David … This one is personal and hard to write. I just got an email that seems to say that I wasn’t on a project any longer. I’m totally shocked. [...]

It’s easier for Interim Pastors to juggle live hand grenades, and less dangerous, than to juggle political causes and the local church’s mission. There’s no way to win at that game today. If a hand grenade explodes, there’s [...]

The preacher’s job is to get people to see themselves in the mirror of God’s Word (James 1:22-25). But this can become a tough challenge for interim pastors. The developmental tasks before the church shapes [...]

Pastors fall. Sometimes quietly, sometimes on public display—pastors fall. As one who has helped pastors and congregations deal with the aftermath of such falls, Paul David Tripp notes that pastoral failure rarely results from [...]

Some of you Executive Pastors have never done a funeral and might need some ideas. Here is an article with a touching story, a great example of the type of story to share during a [...]

Years ago I was the pastor of a small rural church. We had two adult Sunday School classes that we referred to as the Older Adult Class and the Younger Adult Class. When I use [...]

The last place you want to be on a Sunday morning is standing in front of a congregation to preach. Not only is preaching someone else’s job, it’s probably not your best strength. Yet, Christ [...]

I don’t remember much about the ordination paper I authored some twenty years ago, but I do remember employing a central analogy to illustrate the role and work of the pastor: the conductor of an [...]

Working with people is very rewarding but difficult at the same time. Dealing with different personalities, backgrounds and methods can be tiresome. In a business where individuals coming to Christ and being disciples are the [...]

Eulogy’s are often times the most difficult sermons. The struggle over what to say and how to say it can be quite burdensome. I remember feeling very uncomfortable teaching a message for a very tragic [...]

This article may be somewhat controversial to some. My hope is that this can begin a healthy discussion on the process of how to restore someone back from failure. Being a pastor, I deal with mistakes [...]

We had a Nehemiah event at our church several weeks ago. No, we didn’t rebuild any walls. We did something more enduring with far more impact. We read Scripture aloud for three hours. It was [...]

Nothing pains like divorce … especially when children are involved. While divorce is a family matter, it can spill into the workplace through child custody disputes. This can be quite challenging for leaders who must [...]

I never thought I’d be talking to a counselor with my Senior Pastor, but there I was. We sat at ninety-degree angles from each other, facing a kind, older gentleman who was a stranger to [...]

As I quickly evaluated my life, I suddenly realized I knew no one outside my church. I thought about a typical day: gas at a self-service pump, a few groceries bought at the self-checkout lane [...]

You lay down in bed to read a bit before going to sleep when the phone rings. You freeze momentarily as your stomach tightens. A quick glance at the clock reminds you it’s after eleven. [...]

Ministry is about people. Loving them. Equipping and encouraging them. Getting close to them. Not an easy job with 75 people, let alone 175 or 500 or 1,000. In watching pastors who want to touch people [...]