April 2009

If you are reading this issue and are going through your own personal “storm,” I pray that you will experience the full strength and support that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, stands ready to give to you.

Having been in ministry for more than 25 years, I have had my share of hospital visits. The majority of these visits was simply to provide a word of encouragement to a parishioner who was in for a brief stay. But then there have been the other times that brought tears not only to my eyes but also to my soul. You know the ones where the physician comes to share the prognosis with the family, and it isn’t good news. These are the moments that leave you feeling completely helpless and at a loss for words—in spite of what you may have learned in pastoral ministry class. I have discovered that during these times, the most effective form of ministry that a pastor can render is simply the ministry of presence. Although visiting the sick and the suffering becomes, in most cases, trying at best, years spent in ministry have taught me to handle it with a certain degree of professionalism and grace.

What is the greatest predictor of whether or not pastors’ kids will remain in the church when they become adults?

Working together has practical benefits and spiritual implications.

Whether the pastor ministers in a large church or a small district, every pastoral family will find that job expectations cross and blur regularly into the lines of home and family.

What does the pastor do? Is there a biblical job description? The author shares five principles based on the ministry of Jesus.

A fresh look at Psalm 133:1.

An experienced minister shares solid counsel on some of the first steps to take in assuming a pastoral assignment.

Leadership in concept and practice lies in tension as we make the journey from the modern to postmodern period in both the secular and the religious realms.

Pakistan Philippines Prayer Conference

We pastors seldom visit too much.