“How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” That’s the question I’m intending to answer in this series of blog posts. To do that, I am currently building a foundation for future positive suggestions by sharing some of the experiences I had as I began my ministry as an assistant pastor in the local church.

In the last blog post in this series, I mentioned that honestly expressing my opinion on issues that bothered me opened the door for me to give serious thought to all the questions that had been torturing me.

Here are some of those questions: “As a church, where are we headed? “Why do we always have a Sunday evening service?” “Do we have to hold all of our meetings in this building?” “Why are the announcements always right before the special number that has nothing to do with the sermon that follows?” “Why do we plan a Vacation Bible School when we don’t have enough people to staff it?” “Is it necessary to have a 5:30 Jet Cadet (youth group) Hour?”

Behind all this probing was the basic question, “What is the purpose of this local church to begin with?” I found great frustration in being told, “Run, man, run! You’re the person we really need to help the church out,” when no one knew the ultimate destination much less the starting point. There were occasions in the repetitious absurdity of services when I wanted to stand up and scream at the top of my lungs just to have broken the futility of it all!

I must hasten to say that, at the same time, I was still deeply committed to Christ and continued to find Him meaningful in my life. I was exercising my gifts on a personal level, and with God’s help, maintained an active measure of love for the people with whom I worked. In fact, some of these people regularly demonstrated true concern for me in my struggles as well. Other non-church ministries were still open to me, and I found it difficult to continue imagining myself as a local church reformer.

Can you identify at all with these struggles as I’ve shared them? I’m quite certain you do, particularly if you’re searching for an answer to the question, “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” I’m grateful for your patience with my narrative as I build a necessary foundation for some positive suggestions to help you answer that question. I’m hopeful that your desire to get answers will bring you back to this blog for more.

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Whether you need to create a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon, David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With the Advent Celebration: “Seasoning the Season,” you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a Special Limited-Time Package Offer.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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Welcome back to my blog posts. In this numbered series, I’m trying to offer some help in answering the questions: “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” To build a foundation for future positive suggestions, I’m sharing some of the experiences I had as I began my ministry in the local church.

Here are some more details concerning the second church where I served.

After a period of time, I began to content myself with working in the high school department. I was not surprised to discover how little these students paid attention to what was going on each Sunday.

I gave them a primary-level test with questions like, “Who had the coat of many colors?” “What man built the ark?” “Name five of Christ’s disciples?” These, and several other questions of the same ilk, made up a test with a perfect score of 100. However, the average score for these high school students was 17! That’s right, 17! And, the vast majority of these teens had been in the church their entire lives.

When I gave these figures to the board of elders, I was asked how this could possible be since these young people were sitting under the finest preaching to be found. I, in turn, asked the men if any of them could tell me anything that had been said in a message over the last two months, including the one preached the previous Sunday.

There was a long pause. I went from one man to the next, calling them by name, but none could remember anything that had been preached during that period. They just could not remember, even though some truly “big name” guest preachers had been expounding each week.

The following Sunday, one of the elders rushed up to me saying, “Brother Mains, I want to talk to you. I’ve been thinking about what you said, and I remember something from one of the sermons!” As you can imagine, such confrontations did not make me the most popular person on the church staff. Once I began to honestly express my feelings, however, I had to come forth with all of the questions which were torturing me.

I’ll share those questions with you in the next post in this series. In case you’re wondering where this narrative intends to go, let me assure you that I am simply building a foundation on which I will place some very concrete suggestions to help answer the question: “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” If getting some answers to that question interests you, I sincerely invite you to come back to this blog and read more.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help you learn how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With the Advent Celebration: “Seasoning the Season,” you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a Special Limited-Time Package Offer.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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You’re a pastor ministering in a local church. You have many challenges. Fitting into the place where God has called you occupies a significant portion of your subconscious. “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” In this blog post I will continue to address this important question. In fact, by sharing with you some of my own experiences as I began my ministry within the church as an assistant pastor, I am building a foundation for future positive suggestions.

I’ve been sharing with you some of the details concerning the second church where I served. Let me continue that narrative.

By the time I was finally asked to preach on a Sunday morning, I had begun to doubt if I would ever be able to accomplish anything meaningful within the form of the traditional church. Early that morning, I asked God for a sign of His continued presence and of confirmation regarding the direction I had taken in my life.

The remnant staff and I had decided to rearrange the service. We placed the announcements—which are always an anachronism to any worship—before the Call to Worship. We did this so the announcements would not interfere with the flow of the service once it began.

At the end of what I felt to be a satisfactory morning, I extended the traditional invitation, but made it of a precise nature. Imagine my surprise when, in a brief time, thirty to forty people walked to the front. My preaching ministry had never been keynoted by exceptional altar response. Obviously, God was bending near to me that morning. And, His faithfulness made me buoyant.

After the service, I was made aware of a special elder’s meeting that had been hurriedly called. Naively expecting commendation, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was never again to fiddle with the order of service without their approval! There was no recognition of any spiritual deepening—thirty to forty people who had been touched by God’s Spirit—only an awareness of a young staff member who was presumptuously trying to ruffle tradition.

I will continue this narrative in a future blog post. In case you’ve just joined those reading this blog, let me explain that I’m sharing this story of my background as I began my ministry in order to construct a foundation onto which I can place some suggestions to help answer the question: “How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” I invite you to come back to this blog and read more.

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You can learn how to develop highly relevant Sunday sermons that grab the attention of your congregation and help your listeners respond effectively to the deep truths of God’s Word. David Mains and Mainstay Ministries have a whole range of helpful solutions. Do you need to prepare a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon? You can find help on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With the Advent Celebration: “Seasoning the Season,” you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a Special Limited-Time Package Offer.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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“How does a pastor go about finding a role that works?” That’s the question I’ve been addressing in this series of blog posts. In order to provide a foundation for future positive suggestions, I’m sharing some of my own experiences at the time I began my ministry within the church as an assistant pastor.

I will continue my description of the second church where I served.

Because evangelism was so important to this congregation, the planned worship suffered. To me it was indescribably awful. The services were all alike. You knew exactly the ingredients and the order that would be followed even before you looked at the bulletin.

To those who knew the in-language, they were invariably a “blessing”—I’m still not quite sure what that word meant to those who used it so frequently. The last-minute choice of Sunday night hymns and the assignments as to who did what part—I usually prayed for the offering—which were designated as we stepped onto the platform were typical of countless churches I had attended prior to coming to this church.

All of this tended to make me squirm uneasily during the ensuing hour and a quarter. Friends insisted they actually visited the church for the specific purpose of watching my discomfort. Though I was extra fidgety, they had to admit it wasn’t easy to sit under the preaching of a guest preacher, who in 1966, emphatically proclaimed the impossibility of humans ever setting foot on the moon because, according to the Bible, it was God’s territory.

I’m sharing this story of my background as I began my ministry in order to construct a foundation onto which I can place some suggestions to help pastors go about finding a role that works in their particular church. Finding a role that works— that’s the direction I’m taking in these specific blog posts. I hope you are becoming engaged in this exchange of information. I invite you to come back to this blog and read more.

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Pastor, when “sermon prep day” rolls around each week, do you face the task of preparing another sermon with a frown on your face? If so, you’re not alone. Many pastors literally dread preparing their Sunday sermon. There just doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. The good news: David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help, whether you need to create a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon. For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With the Advent Celebration: “Seasoning the Season,” you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a Special Limited-Time Package Offer.

Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.

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