TCR EDITORIAL – AME BISHOPS AND GENERAL OFFICERS SHARE THEIR SAGE ADVICE FOR NEW PREACHERS AND NEWLY APPOINTED PASTORS: Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III The 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder The most recent editorials of The Christian Recorder Online dealt with the advice I would give to persons entering the ministry and things I would do differently if I could start my ministry over again. I also wrote about what I would do if I were starting my ministry today. I invited our bishops and general officers to share the advice they would give a person starting out in ministry and the advice they would give a young pastor with his first or second pastoral appointment. I know that bishops and general officers are busy and some are in the middle of annual conferences, mid-year meetings and other pressing church business; and they might not have had the time to respond to our message. I will publish their responses whenever we receive them. I have received some sage comments from bishops and general officers, both active and retired, and, I am sure their comments will be an inspiration to aspiring preachers and to young pastors. Their comments are listed in the order received: -- Bishop Wilfred J. Messiah, Presiding Prelate of the 17th Episcopal District “Every time I speak to the class of admissions and those who come before me for their first and second ordination, I pose this question to each candidate: Are you sure that your call to this ministry is from God? Do you need time to rethink your answer? Because once you cross this threshold, there is no turning back. My advice to them is that they should be 100% sure that their “call” is from God, and not man.” -- Bishop John R. Bryant, Presiding Prelate of the 4th Episcopal District “I would encourage a person starting ministry to engage and practice, each day, the spiritual disciplines of our faith. I would encourage them to develop a powerful prayer life, a strong ‘study the Word-life’ and engage in a life of meditation.” -- The Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, Historiographer/Executive Director, Department of Research and Scholarship “I would remind them that ‘God called you!’ God called you in your own uniqueness, gifts and graces. If God wanted a clone, God would have made you exactly like everyone else. Be the best ‘you’ God called you to be. Never stop learning; a degree, an ordination, a position, a pastoral appointment, and even a preaching or ministerial opportunity are means for learning more about God, people, life and you.” -- Bishop Jeffrey Nathaniel Leath, Presiding Prelate of the 13th Episcopal District “Challenge your spirit as to whether you are ‘called’ or pursuing a career path out of desperation. Try to divest yourself of as much baggage as possible before entering the ministerial calling by dealing with your moral, personal, financial and basic educational deficiencies upfront. Gain as much relevant academic knowledge and as many marketable secular skills as you can in a reasonable time with a minimum of financial encumbrance. Take the time to build an understanding of ‘church’ from where you find it among the people. Impress an understanding and practice of discipleship. Practice and encourage modeling discipleship and building relationships with persons of every generation. Ignore more of the ‘wrong things’ as long as they are not ‘getting in the way of the correct things’ to avoid wasting energy on fruitless struggles.” -- Dr. Richard Allen Lewis, Treasurer/CFO AME Finance Department “Be truthful, be encouraging, and be business.” -- Bishop Clement W. Fugh, Presiding Prelate of the 14th Episcopal District “To the person beginning ministry I would say, ‘Begin early making preparation for the time that you will no longer participate actively in itinerant ministry.’ To the new pastor I employ the words of Paul, Make full proof of your ministry.’ (II Timothy 4: 5 KJV).” -– Bishop William P. DeVeaux, Presiding Prelate of the 2nd Episcopal District “I would tell the person entering the ministry to find a mentor and stay in touch with that person on a regular basis. I would tell a person pastoring his or her first pastoral charge to ‘build a leadership team that compliments your gifts and talents. Take care of your spiritual, physical and physiological health and develop a resource-community where you can draw upon a number of ‘partners in ministry’ for advice and counsel. I would tell him or her to focus his or her devotional life through spiritual development. -- The Rev. Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., President/Publisher AMEC Sunday School Union “I would tell a person entering the ministry to be sure that you have an irresistible urge to preach God’s word. And, with that urge you should prepare yourself spiritually and intellectually for ministry. I would tell any young pastor to love the people and be their pastor and the people will love you.” -- Bishop Reginald Jackson, Presiding Prelate of the 20th Episcopal District and AMEC Ecumenical Officer I would share with the person entering ministry that it is not enough to know that you have been “called,” you need to be sure who called you. If it is anybody but God, your call is insufficient. If God has called you, there is no higher or more important calling and vocation in the world. I encourage you to strive to be and do your best. God deserves your best and is pleased with nothing less than your best. As Paul encouraged his son in the ministry, I encourage you to be faithful, and to ‘stir up the gift that is within you,’ and ‘make full proof of your ministry.’ Trust God and depend on Him. Love people, and dont seek or allow people to lift you up and put you on a pedestal. When people put you on a pedestal, you cant move far in any direction because they are telling you to ‘stay in your place.’ If you ‘move and fall,’ those same folks may not help you to get back up. Love God and always remember; God called you. I would share with the person beginning his or her first pastoral assignment to get to know the people. You may have the appointment, but you are not yet their pastor. You will not become their pastor until they know you and trust you, and ready to follow you; this takes time. Pray always, stay in the Word and never stop studying, make time for yourself and your family. Be excited about the work of the Lord and enjoy your ministry. Depend and trust God, you cannot do the Lords work, without the Lord and the leading and empowerment of His Spirit.” -- Retired Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry “I would advise the person entering ministry to find an experienced godly person to be a mentor. You will need a mentor to share his or her wisdom to assist your way forward in ministry. You cannot do ministry alone. And to the young pastor, I would advise, ‘Go now – and preach the gospel - tell the world that Jesus is alive - No matter what is going on in the world, God is constant, so, go now – heal the sick, cast out devils in his name – go now and preach till heaven opens and sin is eradicated – go now and preach! preach! preach!” -- Paulette Coleman, Ph.D, Retired General Officer “My advice to a person entering the ministry would be to remind him or her that the ministry is a specialized calling to serve humanity by leading people into a closer spiritual relationship with God, which translates into God-directed action that transforms lives and communities. It can be one of the most fulfilling and demanding professions one might undertake. An active, dynamic, and consistent disciplined life of prayer, Bible study, meditation, and fasting are among the rudimentary spiritual requirements for the job. Without practicing these spiritual disciplines routinely, ministry becomes more difficult. Having a good spiritual support-system or prayer circle of people that you know, love, and trust is also of utmost importance. Just as God loved the Church and the world so much that God sacrificed Jesus, Gods most precious gift and only Son, similarly, you must love the people unconditionally. This is not always an easy undertaking, because even Christians exhibit behavior that makes us unlovable. Learn how to communicate and share information with the congregants routinely. Be a lifelong-learner and be aware of your areas of strength, as well as your areas of weakness. Both will exist because you are human. Dont be afraid or defensive towards congregants who are more knowledgeable than you in certain areas. Try to have them as allies and workers who share their skills for the advancement of the ministry goals. A good leader knows how to utilize the skills and talents of his or her members. The great leader knows how to help members uncover and discover their numerous gifts and talents in order to put them to use for the good of the Kingdom. To the young pastor, your first church is a new church, so take the time to get to know the people, including officers and the regular congregants and understand that they have a congregational culture that is important to them. At the beginning of your pastoral assignment, attending meetings of all boards and auxiliaries will give you insight into what is going on; it will also surprise most of the members. Try to have as many one-on-one meetings with individual members or groupings of members. Develop a list of transition questions for the members and others with responsibility for the church. Have a transition meeting with the former pastor, if appropriate and possible. Most definitely have one with the presiding elder and the officers. Understand all of the systems, processes, and operations that exist at the new church. If none exist, understand why and seek to put some in place with the assistance of the officers. Remember, that the Church existed before your arrival and possibly thrived, but regardless of its status, be mindful and respectful of what has gone before. Accurately determine the financial status of the church. Get accurate accounts of balances, indebtedness, and other financial matters. Understand that there is no guarantee that the new pastor will receive the same compensation package as the former one. This is especially true if the new church is experiencing income-shortfalls. Be reasonable and do your work well, because if the church grows numerically, financially, and spiritually, the members and officers will initiate discussions and actions about salary increases and improvements to the benefits package. Do not upend everything at the new church until you understand why it is like it is and how it came to be. Just because members do not say anything, does not mean they agree or like the new things. Change is often difficult, but there are times when it is welcomed. Change with no apparent or visible positive differences, especially when it is not communicated may sow the seeds of discontent. How change is communicated, presented, and rolled out makes all the difference in the world. Typically, the honeymoon period with a new pastor lasts for at least six months to eight months or even up to a year, but the armor will begin to chink at some point. By that time, the congregants will have made up their minds that you are either hard-working or lazy; that you have scruples and operate from a base of biblical integrity or that you dont; that you are or are not accessible; that you do or do not visit the sick; that you are or are not committed to changing the community in which in which the church is located and beyond for the better; that your sermons are or are not well-prepared and prayed about mightily. The list goes on and on. Ministry is a profession where one is conceivably on call 24/7. It is a demanding profession and sometimes the compensation is not commensurate with the education, experience, ministerial responsibilities, and the like. Yes, you have a M.Div., but your spouse doesnt understand why your friends from graduate school and college have very comfortable six-figure incomes and you are smarter and harder-working than all of them and you barely make $25,000 with no benefits. Ministry may be notoriously sacrificial for some and embarrassingly fruitful for others. It is my contention until every one in a city or community is saved and an active member of a local church, there is enormous opportunity to grow spiritually, numerically, and financially. You and your family members will always be under close scrutiny and that is not fair, but it is a reality. Protecting your family while respecting the congregation is a major challenge and figuring out how to do that seriously and with love is not always intuitive. The potential exists for miraculous and fresh things to happen in ministry at ones new or first pastorate. That potential always exists, if we unleash the Spirit of God through the Holy Spirit in everything that we do. Congregants - love your pastor! Treat him or her with respect and the dignity that accrues to this high calling to ministry. Pastors love your members and treat them with dignity and respect. Pastors and congregations together with God form an indomitable force that can change the world. -- Bishop Julius H. McAllister, Sr., Presiding Prelate of the 8th Episcopal District “In sharing my comments to young preachers, I fondly recall the words of the late Bishop Frank Madison Reid, Jr., who, prior to the presentation of pastoral appointments at the annual would advise pastors in South Carolina who were going to be sent to new pastoral appointments that they should preach their way into the hearts of the people. He told me and others to preach before holding any meetings or discussing pastors’ salaries or pastors’ compensation. He went as far as to say that we ought not to go to the new appointment until Sunday morning. As a pastor, I followed those instructions. As chair of the conference board of examiners, I passed those instructions along to ministerial students. Now, as a bishop, I encourage newly appointed pastors to have “Prayer meetings” with their congregations before having board meetings. The advice I would give to young preachers entering the ministry is to hold on to the zeal, the enthusiasm, the spirit, the determination, that they now have. And they should not allow anything or anyone to cause them to ‘extinguish the fire’ that is currently ‘burning in their hearts,’ for the Lord, God’s church, and its families. The advice that I would give to young pastors who are early in their pastoral assignments is that they should love the people. The bishop may give the preacher a pastoral appointment, but the bishop cannot make the preacher ‘the pastor;’ only the people can do that. Love the people and they will gladly call the assigned preacher, ‘My pastor.’” -- Retired Bishop Frederick Calhoun James “My advice to young AME minister entering the ministry would be, ‘Make sure you are a Christian and that Jesus Christ is supreme in your life. Be certain that you are ‘called of God’ to preach. Love God, love the people, love the Church and love yourself. In addition to your seminary degrees, read the Bible everyday, study The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the AMEC Hymnal, and all other data that can enhance the quality of your ministry. Discover, study, and exemplify the unique characteristics of AME Bishops, general and connectional officers, presiding elders, pastors, laypersons, WMS, YPDers and AME members who know the uniqueness of the ‘sons and daughters’ of Richard and Sarah Allen. My advice to young pastors who are early into their pastoral appointments is to thank God daily for the opportunity to be an AME pastor. Show the people your love for them and they will show you their love for you. Do not center your thinking on the pastorate of some other pastor; make your own pastorate the that it can be. Always pray for the guidance of God in your pastorate – even your ‘pay-package.’ God can negotiate a better ‘pay-package’ for you at your church meeting than you can negotiate for yourself. Be sure to keep God near. ‘Use your youth wisely –an old Greek proverb in the inter-generational area – ‘The most talented young warriors in the contest did not under estimate the wisdom of the senior warriors on the area. They were still there in spite of their age.’” TCR Editor’s Note: We will publish the statements of bishops and general officers and will consider publishing the comment of others who wish to participate in this discussion.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 19:19:41 +0000
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