Well the church I have been serving at has been without a pastor for about 9 months and I personally have been without a pastor for over 2 years. I know the the pastor is not responsible for our spiritual lives but as a ministry student it is nice to have someone to turn to for advice. I personally am not a huge fan of how the process of finding a new pastor is done in the Baptist world. I, however, do not know of a better way to do it and understand I serve a sovereign God. Being on staff this is a scary time. Let's be honest there is a lot that can go wrong. It is not at all uncommon for pastors to bring their own team with them. What if our personalities clash? What if he wants to take the church down a different path? What if our theology differs? What if?
What if, you have the same vision, want the same thing for the church, have the same theology? I am so excited to work with this man. I was nervous because I had only been able to speak with him for a grand total of 10 minutes before he was voted in. I have just begun what I pray is a long ministry at this church that has stolen my heart when it could all be over before it got started. Sure I heard his speeches and even a sermon but how much can you know about a guy from those. Sunday night after the youth service I was finally able to go to dinner with him and his family.
I can not wait for him to get back. Our theology matches. Our views on how to do ministry match. The direction he wants to go with our church is on the same path I have been trampling. He loves the younger generation but doesn't do it at the expense of the current church. He even wants to participate in youth events! I am so excited. We talked about everything and I honestly believe we got one heck of a man for our little country church. When we were both considering Lockhart one keyword stuck out in our conversations with the church. CHANGE! We are both excited and confident about the chance to help a church break new ground.
Be ready for BIG things in the future of this little country church!
