Recently I was in a conversation with a friend who is on staff at a church (obviously, not Grace Church) who posed an interesting question. Though he loves his personal ministry at the church in which he is on staff, he has good reasons to be frustrated at his church overall. He honestly said that if he were not on staff at the church, he is certain that he and his family would not attend that local church. So, should a staff member stay at the church where he works if his lack of passion for the church overall would result in his not being part of the church if he were not on payroll? Pretty interesting question, isn’t it?
I think the general rule in most scenarios would be that if you are on staff at a church but lack the passion for the church overall to the point that you know that you would not attend that church if you were not on staff, the best course of action is to begin to pray about God leading you to a new ministry in a church where you can be passionate about the overall ministry. The more passionate you are about the church in which you serve, the more passionate and effective I believe you will be in the personal ministry God has called you to within that local ministry.
I have been fortunate in the fact that all three churches that I have had the privilege of serving in were ministries that I was passionate about during my time there. I was able to spend the first 8 years of my ministry as a youth and associate pastor at the Community Grace Brethren Church in West Milton, OH. I was able to serve and mentor under a Senior Pastor (Steve Peters) whose passion for the church was contagious. It was the type of church I would have eagerly attended even had I not been on staff.
From there I went to the Osceola Grace Brethren Church in Osceola, IN where I served for 9 years as Senior Pastor. One thing that I can honestly say is that my passion for that church never waned over those 9 years. I did not leave either of these churches because of a lack of passion for the overall ministry of the church. In fact, not once in my years of ministry have I ever been the one to instigate a conversation with a church that had a staff opening that was appealing to me. In both of my ministry moves, it was God who orchestrated the contact and then made His will very clear.
Now I am the Senior Pastor here at Grace Church in Lititz where I have been since August of 2004. I can dogmatically say that I have never had as much passion for a local church as I do this one. That is a fact. I love this church and I love what God is doing here day in and day out as together we continue to meet people where they are and then help move them to where God wants them to be. Man, I love my job!
Perhaps there are times that God calls a person to a specific ministry inside a local church in which there is a passion for their personal ministry even though there is no passion for the overall ministry of the church. It’s just hard to imagine being in that scenario. It is my hope and prayer to be part of what God is doing here at Grace Church all the way up until the day I retire (at age 45) and move to a little cottage by the sea up in Maine.
I think the general rule in most scenarios would be that if you are on staff at a church but lack the passion for the church overall to the point that you know that you would not attend that church if you were not on staff, the best course of action is to begin to pray about God leading you to a new ministry in a church where you can be passionate about the overall ministry. The more passionate you are about the church in which you serve, the more passionate and effective I believe you will be in the personal ministry God has called you to within that local ministry.
I have been fortunate in the fact that all three churches that I have had the privilege of serving in were ministries that I was passionate about during my time there. I was able to spend the first 8 years of my ministry as a youth and associate pastor at the Community Grace Brethren Church in West Milton, OH. I was able to serve and mentor under a Senior Pastor (Steve Peters) whose passion for the church was contagious. It was the type of church I would have eagerly attended even had I not been on staff.
From there I went to the Osceola Grace Brethren Church in Osceola, IN where I served for 9 years as Senior Pastor. One thing that I can honestly say is that my passion for that church never waned over those 9 years. I did not leave either of these churches because of a lack of passion for the overall ministry of the church. In fact, not once in my years of ministry have I ever been the one to instigate a conversation with a church that had a staff opening that was appealing to me. In both of my ministry moves, it was God who orchestrated the contact and then made His will very clear.
Now I am the Senior Pastor here at Grace Church in Lititz where I have been since August of 2004. I can dogmatically say that I have never had as much passion for a local church as I do this one. That is a fact. I love this church and I love what God is doing here day in and day out as together we continue to meet people where they are and then help move them to where God wants them to be. Man, I love my job!
Perhaps there are times that God calls a person to a specific ministry inside a local church in which there is a passion for their personal ministry even though there is no passion for the overall ministry of the church. It’s just hard to imagine being in that scenario. It is my hope and prayer to be part of what God is doing here at Grace Church all the way up until the day I retire (at age 45) and move to a little cottage by the sea up in Maine.
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