Lessons Learned Along the Way (Lessons I'm Learning....)

Dr. Ray Prichard has an interesting article (click here)in which he lists seven lessons he has learned along the way. Here are some of his observations, and it made me reflect on things that I have learned (or that I am learning) in ministry as well.

1. Remember Your Call To Ministry: when the difficult times hit and there are the deep valleys, remember you went into ministry because God called you, and you remain until God releases you. There will be "challenges" in churches, but the church is still God's solution for the problems of this world. If we focus on the problems of the church (pastor's and/or people) we will probably end up resigning or not going.

2. Use Technology to Multiply Your Ministry: Ray Prichard advises writing out your sermon each week, and posting it on the internet. Writing out your sermon will help to make it and you concise (Dr. Donald Sunukjian advises this as well).

I would add the use of a PDA (for calendaring, contact information, articles to read when waiting, repository for all kinds of notes, work log, database, MP3 player to listen to sermons & music, etc).

Some specialized software tools for a computer: a document search program (Copernic Desktop Search, Yahoo Desktop Search) to find files based on a word search, Evernote (great way to capture snippets of web sites that are being browsed, notes, thoughts and then searched by words or by keys).

3. Exegete Your Community: learn about the history and culture of the place you are called to serve. Keep up with what is taking place in the local community and in the lives of the congregation you are called to serve.

4. Learn Your Church's History: knowing the history of the church will help to understand the thought processes of the people in the church family.

5. Analyze the Needs of Your Congregation: attempt to understand what the people of your congregation need in order to draw closer to the Lord and to reach the community for Christ. Realize that almost everyone is overcommitted and overstressed. This ought to affect our preaching as well. Often in our sermon, we need to tell the people up front why you think it is important for people to listen.

6. Stay Long Enough to Make a Difference: too often there has been the tendency to leave too early. It seems to me that pastors are staying longer in churches than maybe 20 years ago. Back then, it appeared that a number of pastors changed churches every two or three years. I don't see that so much today, maybe it is just the circles in which I am associated. I haven't seen a recent statistic on that (though statistics can be made to say anything one desires to prove.) It takes time to win people's trust, and find out where they are in life in order to be more effective in helping them to grow. It takes time to connect with people in the community and build trust in their lives as well. An old adage that was given to me when I first started in ministry was: "the first year they love you, the second year they tolerate you, the third year they hate you, and the fourth year your ministry can begin."

7. Know When it is Time to Leave: that's a tough one! Sometimes circumstances pretty much dictate that one's ministry is over. But it is too easy to stay in a setting because it is familiar and comfortable. This is detrimental to the church as well as the ministry of the pastor. This takes a real sensitivity to the Chief Shepherd's leading as He chooses to move his undershepherds to different flocks for the continue growth of the flock and the undershepherd.
God knows what He is doing. Prichard writes, "pray that God will give you grace and wisdom to know when your time is done." Prichard goes on to say, pray that you won't leave too soon or stay too long. When the time comes to leave, leave quickly, quietly and graciously. Personally, I want to leave at the "top of my game" not continue on when my ministry to the church I serve is on the decline.

Prichard concludes, remember that our highest privilege is representing Christ to the people in His church and our community. "We do what we do because God allows us to bring Jesus to our people."

What have you learned or are learning along the way?