My First Church

Michael L. Randle

Description

Every first is essential. Like the first child, the first church will change a preacher’s life forever. You will love this book.

Serving the local church as senior pastor is not a small undertaking. Regardless of your education or the years of experience you may have, the job is still tough to manage. The senior pastor of the local church is one person, no matter how large the staff he or she may supervise. Rarely is there a person that can walk into their first-time pastoral experience and hit a home run at first bat. Often the opposite is true. First time pastor’s make plenty of their own mistakes. Often, they haven’t learned how to handle some of the emotional baggage that comes along with their newly assumed pastoral role. Pastor Randle examines his own pastoral experience at his first church to demonstrate how a minister can learn from the principles presented in this book, potentially avoiding the bumps and bruises of ministry. Read this book whether you are serving as a pastor for the first time or not. Your ministry will be blessed.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Mentoring
• Philosophie et théologie
• Minister
• Coaching
• Pastor
• Shepherd
• Leadership
• Church

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 07 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664271975
• Langue: English

Extrait

My First CHURCH
 
A Biographical Sketch of the Spiritual Journey through a Pastor’s First Time Pastoral Experience.
 
 
 
 
 
 
MICHAEL L. RANDLE
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Michael L. Randle.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
 
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7198-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7197-5 (e)
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date:  12/01/2022
Contents
Introduction: Questions that need to be answered
Prologue: The Dream that Lasted for Nearly Seven Years
The Core-Prayer
The Main Thing-Preaching
The Pulpit: The Charge and the Headship
Pew/People – The Members, Guest, and a Few Bad Apples to Boot.
Problems/Pains-The Tough Side of Pastoral Ministry
Purpose: I Was Sent for a Purpose, and I Served It with Passion
The Pen – At My First Church My Writing Skills Were Developed
Pay – It Was about Compensation, Not Money.
Predecessor – Following a Giant, While Living and Leading My Own Way.
Peers – Some Were Friendly, Some Helpful, Then There Were Others.
Performance – I Did What I Could, Always Trying to Do My Best, But Sometimes and for Some People, It Just Wasn’t Good Enough.
Passion In Worship – I Am a Worshipper, Not Just a Preacher
Phobias – During My Tenure I Had to Learn to Live Beyond a Fear of Failure.
Pledge – I Was Focused on Fulfilling My Assignment and Making Proof of My Ministry.
Payoff – I Gained an Understanding, An Experience, A Greater Appreciation for Knowing Myself, My Gifts, and My Calling.
Let Us Hear the Conclusion of the Matter
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Questions that need to be answered
This is one of my most essential works over the course of my nearly 20-year pastoral ministry. The process has proven to be a daunting task. But I feel part of my calling included a ministry of both pastoral leadership and writing. As I considered this project, I thought about why this experience would have any value at all, most especially to other first-time pastors.
Pastors with tenure may read this book with curiosity. They will have labored in this field long enough to teach these principles without any notes. What could a sitting senior pastor possibly get out of reading a book like this? Pastoral experiences are unique to every pastor; the benefit is in what God has purposed for each one of us as individuals to experience.
However, for those first-time pastors, just stepping into the shoes of shepherding, I pray that you can look at what I’ve gained and not be caught by surprise when similar things happen in your ministry. I’ve said time and time again, concerning my first pastorate, “It is where I made all of first-time pastor mistakes.”
In my first business meeting I was enthusiastic about the opportunity God had given me and His church. By the last business meeting I was still enthusiastic about the opportunity God had given, but this time it was for me and my new assignment. After six years of leading my first church, something had shifted. I realized that God called me to fulfill His purpose not mine. Someone said, in that first meeting, that they should expect mistakes from me, because it was my first time being a pastor. On that night God said that it was His first assignment for me and that another assignment awaited me.
A few years before this writing, I asked a few well-known pastors about their tenure in pastoral ministry all together. Most I had spoken with said that they had twenty-five or more years of pastoral experience. What really got to me is that many of those same pastors I spoke with where now leading their 2 nd or 3 rd church. That’s when it got to me.
These pastors told horror stories. In their experiences and from their perspectives God was teaching, testing, and trying them during those early years as a shepherd.
The pearls of wisdom they dropped were encouraging then and are encouraging now after nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry. I have now let time and life elapse and erase some of what was said by those sages of ministry, but much of what they said ministered to me when I needed it the most. The people were right, it was my first time as a pastor, but God was intentional, especially then.
There is a term I am going to use here, that I am sure most will understand, “People-ology.” It is not a course I took at Moody Bible Institute where I got my training, No? I started people-study 101 when I started leading them as pastor. I made my own share of first-time pastor mistakes, but I also feel much was gained in my first pastorate. God has used those years of service in ministry to benefit where I am currently serving today.
The people to whom I serve now are getting the better part of my leadership, because the first group I shepherded caught me with some rough edges. Much of what was experienced there was for the direct benefit of the people there at the time, and for me. God has since used it all to demonstrate His personal presence and power in the life of His church. I would love to say God did great things through me in that church, but what I can say is that He’s done much for me and through me while I served that local church family.
In ministry the right questions are important. I believe that when I ask myself the right questions about my ministry I walk away with answers about where I am spiritually, emotionally, mentally, socially, and most of all as a pastoral leader. All of that is important to me and should be important to any local pastor; whether serving for the first time in the position or third, fourth or fifth.
Introspective is like a perfect jewel held in the hand of a reflecting jeweler; he can see himself in the reflection. By asking the right questions and piercing through to the core of my first pastoral experience I have found that I learned some amazing things about me, my Savior, and God’s people in general.
Whenever I take on a task that is motivated by questions, I find myself getting frustrated when the questions are not fully answered. So let me take this opportunity to put in this precursor; I am only trying to answer one question, “What is it like to serve as a first pastor?”
When I consider the total experience of my first pastorate, I recognize that it was in that ministry where I grew and where my focus in ministry was sharpened. It was not one of those world-shaking experiences, but my life today was shaped by it. Only a person, who’s led more than one congregation or has stayed for a long tenure in their first church, can truly empathize. Yet, my hope is that first time pastors will find it helpful for their current journey.
During my first pastorate a number of areas of my life were affected. Sometimes overwhelmingly so, other times the experiences motivated my inner drive to grow, and at still other times it was a divinely appointed lesson of learning. Through tears, laughter, and on-going relationships my first church gave me a lifelong learning experience.
It Was Not a Bad Pastorate; It Was a Blessed Experience.
There’s no way I can tell you all the good and not so good experiences I had while serving the small urban church. However, a few weeks after I had gone to speak and teach as a candidate, I had a dream that was a shadow over me throughout my tenure there. In this dark dream I had walked into the building, dressed in black. I sat on the back pew and began to cry.
My tears rained down my distraught face and I seemed so disappointed by whatever had made me cry. No one else was in the building and I could hear myself screaming in anguish, “Lord! Where did all the people go?” While I was dreaming I could almost since that those people that extended the call to me had now abandoned me. I felt alone and despondent.
It was not until six years later, after trials fought and battles won, that God relieved me of the anguish felt from that dream. That recurring nightmare became clear when God said, “It’s not about your tears it’s about My answer.” I asked, “Lord! Where have all the people gone?” He answered, “Who do you need most them or me?”
Of course, I needed Him, and it is sure that I needed them; but when it was all said and done, I need Him more than anyone. By the time I led my last business meeting with th