All pastors know the importance of maintaining a close walk with the Lord, getting enough rest, eating right and having a good work/life balance. But here are some very concrete things I wish I’d known when I started my first pastorate. If you’re a young pastor, I hope you find these suggestions helpful.
- Focus on the elderly and needy in your church first. Young pastors tend to have a credibility problem with older people. By learning how to meet the needs of this group first, you’ll win them over. In fact, not only will they support you when you bring change to the church, they’ll cheer you on.
- Develop a strong men’s ministry. The men you disciple in your men’s ministry will be your future church leaders. (Shameless plug: checkout my website at NewCommandment.org for suggestions on how to use men to meet the needs of your elderly ?and needy and for ideas on how to revitalize your men’s ministry.)
- Do at least some of your sermon prep in a public place. Find a coffee shop or a fast food restaurant, spread out your Bible, Greek New Testament and laptop and study away. Do this weekly at the same time and place and you’ll find after a few months that you’re making friends while you work. I’m seeing more and more pastors do this everywhere I go and it’s so cool.
- Learn to hunt and fish. I grew up in inner city Los Angeles. I didn’t know anyone who fished. The LA “River” is a joke. And the only thing people hunted in LA was other people. Consequently, I never learned to hunt and fish. But all three of my pastorates had men in them who loved both of those outdoor activities.
- Buy grave plots in the local cemetery. I know an Anglo pastor in an Hispanic church in East LA. The members kept asking him when he was leaving. Not that they wanted him to, they just assumed that at some point he would be moving on. Finally, he and his wife purchased grave plots in a cemetery near the church. His members never asked him that question again.
- Always have a special fundraising project. Do this even when your church finances are in the red. All three of my churches had at least one person in them who was very wealthy. In fact, they were so wealthy, they could have financed the entire church budget with their one tithe. But they wisely chose not to do that to encourage the rest of the church to give. Instead, those individuals gave to special projects.
- Take recalcitrant male counselees on hikes. These are the guys who sit in marriage counseling sessions with their arms folded and their lips pursed while their wife blabs on and on about what a crappy husband they are. I started taking these hapless husbands on hikes and discovered that after about thirty minutes, they started spilling their guts. Never failed.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Are you a pastor? What practical tips would you share with a young pastor?
A Simple Ministry Concept with Profound Implications
Teams of four men serving widows, single moms, fatherless children and others with long-term pressing needs in their churches and communities.
