One year I went to a denominational national conference and arrived onsite to find that the conference was offering 78 different major sessions, seminars or short classes to the collected conferees. It was an attempt to be helpful, that I felt was doomed to backfire. At the time I served with three other pastors a church plant in the Chicago suburbs and we had a healthy and helpful ministry in one another’s lives. Standing in the registration line at the conference and looking over the learning opportunities, my thoughts were conflicted.
- “There are some really wonderful sessions here.”
- “I am really looking forward to hearing from ____________.”
- “This must be a bit overwhelming for some guys who don’t have a staff team to bounce ideas off of.”
- “How many of these fall into the category of “how to” or “how not to” and how many fall into the category of “this one is going to really minister to my soul”? Answer: 74-4
- “Wow! That looks like an imbalance to me; well-meaning but out of wack.”
- “What would it be like to be a solo pastor coming to this conference and be told, simply by opening the schedule, ‘THESE 78 THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO MASTER FOR YOUR CHURCH TO THRIVE.’?” Answer: Depression
- “No one would ever say that. That is certainly not the intention of the organizers. But how could a solo pastor not draw that conclusion?”
Since that conference, probably two decades ago, I have been on the lookout for resources that “feed the soul of a pastor.” Along with my experience in ministry the process has helped me to counsel younger pastors in a particular direction. I have tried to write and funnel to them resources that will . . .
- “fill their souls”
- “exalt Christ above methods”
- “steady their faith”
- “help them to live passionately for and like Jesus”
- “help them to live for an audience of One (Jesus) rather than church growth”
- “help them to be who they are rather than an imitation of someone else”
One piece of counsel I have given to every young pastor or church planter leaving seminary for their first ministry assignment was:
“As a seminary graduate, you are going to get a lot of e-and snail mail invitation to conferences, retreats, seminars and classes over the next few years. Many of them will be really good and address issues that are important. But for the first two to three years after seminary, simply throw them away. Round file them in the trash can with one exception. Just dig into your community and your people, be faithful to study and love your community and study and love your Bible. You might want to start a 5-5-5 plan for the first five years of ministry. The one exception would be, find a conference that has little to nothing to say about how to do the ministry. Find a conference that is all about nurturing the pastor’s soul. Find a conference that will so exalt Christ, so exalt the person and work of the Savior in your own heart, that your faith is both deepened and renewed and that your fervor to serve the Lord is set aflame.”
Find Resources that Will Do this For You
I just found one! In 2012, a friend of mine wrote a book that somehow escaped my notice until Friday of this past week. If I had the resources, I would send it to every pastor I know, every student I have ever taught, every person who has ever heard me speak. It is a book that is, if there is any fairness in the world, destined to be a classic on pastoral care. That is Lee Eclov pictured below and below that is picture of his 2012 book, Pastoral Graces.
Gentleman, you have no idea how much you need this book or how much this book is going to mean to you in the years to come.
Over the years, I have read Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, probably 12-15 times. I will continue to read it again and again. This book is different from Bonhoeffer but it is no less valuable. It is filled with such biblical insight and pastoral wisdom that your heart will be warmed, challenged and inspired. I couldn’t put it down. I actually bought it to give to another friend-pastor but now want my own copy so I can read it again and again.
How I wish someone like Lee had been beside me telling me these things when I was first starting out in ministry. How delighted I am to know that for almost three decades Lee mentored young men at Trinity Seminary with these nuggets of wisdom, honesty and pathos.
If I were on a search committee, looking for a pastor and was considering a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, I think one of my questions would be, “Did you have the opportunity to take any of Lee Eclov’s classes or to be mentored by him while you were at Trinity?” If they answer was yes, they would instantly rise in stature. Don’t miss this book and expect to hear me quote it often in the years to come.
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