Some Thoughts about Ministry, Particularly for Those in Seminary by Ken Pierce

Ken Pierce, a pastor in my denomination in Mississipi, recently wrote a post entitled Some Thoughts about Ministry, Particularly for Those in Seminary. While I’m no longer in seminary, I will be ordained on May 19th, and so I found his thoughts particularly applicable to me as I begin the next stage of my life. While my ministry will look a little different in that it will be in a cross-cultural context, I think many of them still apply.

I’d encourage you to read all 25 points, but here a few I found particularly compelling:

16.) When people leave your church, it hurts.  When they leave because of you, it hurts double.  This will happen.

17.) Sometimes you will be paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of your own inadequacy.

18.) At some point, somebody will probably accuse you of not preaching the gospel.  Make sure they’re wrong.

19.) If you can’t hold people’s interest with Scripture for twenty-five minutes, it’s not the Scripture that’s boring.

20.) Short notes of encouragement to people who are going through tough times or serving the Lord faithfully mean a lot.  A pastor who notices and is thankful is appreciated.