Off a young man goes to his first pastorate. All those years of study and preparation are finally being realized. He has sent out resumes, endured interviews, experienced ordination exams, and waited anxiously for some church to call and say, “We want you to be our pastor.” He packs up the U-haul with all his family’s belonging, his books are sealed in boxes, he heads across the country, arrives in the field, and he is ready to begin pastoring. Where to start? What to do?
There are so many wonderful things that call for his attention: he wants to institute a more helpful Sunday school curriculum for children, launch a systematic overhaul of the diaconate, engage the community in a new way, equip the elders to shepherd, implement a new order of worship, encourage the congregation to embrace church planting, and the list goes on. He believes the Lord has given him a vision for the church—he knows where it needs to go. This is great—vision is a gift the Lord has given to Him. This is one of the reasons the congregation extended a call to him. But a wise visionary will put the “breaks on.” He cannot and should not be the proverbial “bull in a china shop.” Keep reading
Also see
Thom Rainer: Nine Steps for a Pastor’s First 90 Days
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