A Message of Appreciation

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Few professions demand the breadth of skills we’ve come to expect of our local church pastor: public speaker; business manager; counselor; teacher; administrator; fund-raiser; mentor; social worker; evangelist. And, of course, we assume they will also complement this package with an inexhaustible store of energy and good humor.

What a weight of expectations a pastor carries!

You, as a local church pastor, have been called to a task that has no parallel. You’re a shepherd of the Lord’s flock; a caretaker of something that is infinitely precious to Him. The full scope of your job description cannot be contained by any written document or defined by the expectations of your congregation. The parameters of your duties are found in your relationship with the One who has entrusted you with this special responsibility. And if you commit yourself—with integrity and dedication— to discharging this trust, you’ve already met the only expectation that really matters.

The local church pastor is key—absolutely central—to everything we are and do as a church. It’s a truth that’s been expressed so many times that perhaps it’s acquired the air of a cliché. But, nevertheless, it expresses reality. The 22,000 pastors globally who minister to our church family, shape and direct the Seventh-day Adventist Church to an incalculable extent. Administrative decisions, church statements, position papers, and publications—none of these come close to touching the level of influence wielded by pastors who, day by day, week by week, are nurturing, strengthening, comforting, ministering to the whole Adventist community.

It’s a sobering thought, for with great power also comes great responsibility—and ultimately, accountability to God. Ellen White calls the pastor’s role a “grave responsibility.”¹ Why? Because a pastor carries the trust of the congregation. The words and actions of a pastor have a disproportionate impact—building up God’s kingdom or tearing it down; exerting a tremendous influence for good or an even “stronger influence in the wrong direction.”² When this potential is God-directed, the community of faith is blessed immeasurably. But when it is not, the consequences can be devastating.

I know that each of you confronts a unique set of circumstances—issues and challenges that reflect the distinct mix of cultural, political, and economic “flavors” of the environment in which you’re placed. But over the past few years, as I’ve talked with pastors in many different places, I’ve heard a number of common themes: the never-ending challenge of balancing the demands of ministry with the needs of your own family; the challenge of keeping one’s own spiritual life alive and growing; the challenge of mobilizing church members for witnessing, engaging with the broader community, providing programs and services—all with limited financial resources; the challenge of congregations that are increasingly diverse—not just ethnically and culturally but which contain radical differences in backgrounds, attitudes, expectations, and needs.

And as we’ve talked together, I’ve become even more firmly convinced that the voice of the local church pastor must be heard more clearly—by those of us in administration and also by the church community as a whole. I’m so pleased that at the General Conference Session in Atlanta this year we’re profiling the Adventist pastor. We’ll look at the joys, fulfillment, challenges, frustrations, hopes, and sacredness of the calling of those in local church ministry. I want the whole richness of that experience to be placed before the church. I want us to acknowledge, publicly, how critical your work is to the well-being of our spiritual community.

Each one of you has been obedient to God’s call. Every day you serve His people: you expend your time, your energy, and sometimes even your peace of mind, striving to be faithful “shepherds of God’s flock” (1 Pet. 5:2).³ And so my prayer for you is this: that our Lord, “out of his glorious riches . . . may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16–19).

May Christ’s infinite, saving love sustain you as you live and work for Him.

Yours in His service, Jan Paulsen President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists