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Pastor Your City

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 **3/23/17 12:07 pm**

I want to encourage every minister today who struggles with their self-worth. The breadth and depth of your ministry is not contingent on how many people fill the seats on Sunday mornings. This is especially true for the pastor of the smaller church. Let me share something that I have done at almost every assignment I've had. I always tried to find some outreach to the community independent of Sunday mornings. Many times, we feel like failures because we treat every outreach as some kind of dragnet to get people in our pews.

We currently do a food pantry. We partner with several other churches in the city. We only offer it once a month. But we coordinate with the other churches' schedules so that we have the whole month covered. We have been doing it for years, and I can honestly say there have been precious few people who come for food that also visit the church on Sunday. But that's not why we do it.

That's just one example. I'm sure you can find many creative ways to serve your community. But the point I'm making is that you need to view yourself as a minister to the community (because you are!). Visit the nursing homes. Become active in a ministerial alliance with diverse denominational groups. If your community still has a local newspaper, begin submitting thoughtful and biblical articles for review. I have had many published over the years.

I'm not saying that most of you don't already have this mindset. None of this is particularly profound. But I meet so many pastors who are discouraged because of their Sunday morning attendance. If they're not careful, they will allow this to define their perception of success. One of my first jobs after Vietnam was in sales. My boss was training me and said "you'll never be a closer as long as you have the smell of desperation." Having a proper mindset is crucial. Paul was bound in prison for much of his ministry. But he never viewed himself as the prisoner of Caesar. He was a "prisoner for Christ". And even though he was physically bound, he boldly declared "the Word of God is not bound".

Sorry for the verbosity. Hope this helps someone today.

Friendly Face Posts: 346 **3/23/17 5:41 pm**

good post!
My church pastor is involved in so many outside activities! He and his wife are employed with YMCA and he doesn't have to worry about Sunday attendance. There was three of us in service Sunday and we had a wonderful worship service.

Vocational pastors are the best!
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Sanctification is subsequent to the new birth

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **3/23/17 11:46 pm**

I had never pictured what you brought up. YES, I and most folk I have known judged their ministry by the number in church on Sunday AM. Very good points. From the pew I would really like to hear from a friend or someone from the local town say, "Your pastor is really interested in the welfare of our town.

Very good advice my friend. Most of us are very limited in out scope and outlook.

Good Stuff! Cool

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Hey, DOC Posts: 68 **3/24/17 8:43 am**

Excellent post!
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"[Jesus] will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end." - Nicene Creed

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6385 **3/24/17 3:35 pm**

Our pastor does a little but he is really to old to get to involved so its left up to the other leaders in the church. We really should do more than we do but when we fail its our fault not the pastors.

Friendly Face Posts: 434 **3/25/17 7:20 am**

Thank you, Da Sheik for taking the time to write this encouraging post. I want to second what you mentioned about assisted living and nursing home ministry. We have a lot of experience there due to family members who need/needed 24/7 care. I'm saddened by the huge percentage of people who don't have any visitors (some even have relatives in town).

We usually go in December and sing Christmas hymns. No time needs to be spent practicing, rehearsing or worrying about which musicians commit because we may or may not have any instruments. We walk the halls, visit the residents who cannot or did not leave his/her room, ask their favorite song and sing it with them. Other times we may ask the home on a 3 day to one week notice and usually they are thrilled to have us.

You guessed it, they are blessed but we leave there feeling ten feet tall. I never left a Christmas party feeling the joy and satisfaction we have on those nights. We are not a big church so the children and youth join the adults as we do this together. We also ask the residents for their stories about Christmas as a child. If their minds are sharp I am sure to ask what type of present they received, which is a great teachable moment for the young ones. We then relate what was to what is concerning their desires in wanting that new phone, iPad etc! God uses that as a gateway to being thankful for what He gives us.

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **3/25/17 8:02 am**

I agree that "Pastor Your City" is an excellent post!