Long time coming

Well I've been out of it for quite some time. Good grief I'm one of those people who has a blog but has not updated it for a long time.

I know that part of my hesistation in writing is the fear of really being honest in my writing. Have you ever read a deceased person's journal? Have you ever thought while reading it, "Did they mean for me to read this?" But at the same time you find yourself incredibly moved by what they are saying or how they lived. Maybe most writers find it difficult to just lay it all out there for others, I don't know. I do.

My last post covered the fact that our assistant pastor has resigned and is moving. This Sunday is his final Sunday. If I were to be honest (and I will be) it has been a hard transition. There are many reasons why it has been hard but one in particular is how hard it is to pastor the size of church I pastor. We run around 250 or so...at least lately...and summer might change all that. But everything I experience and everything I am reading about churches like ours tells me that this is a difficult size church.

My greatest hope for my church would be the further empowerment of people to do stuff. (In church circles this is called discipleship.) Plain and simple, I want people to do the work of the church. Acts 2, Ephesians 4, et al., all speak about role clarification. I'm finding great pressure to be the "everything pastor" in a church that is too big for an everything pastor.

We are not going to hire a specialized minister for our next hire. We are taking our time and praying for a person who will come to be a "leader of leaders" as I call it. I'm looking for a person who gets excited about leading other people, holding them accountable, and getting other people involved in serving. We must grow wider at our base or the top will keep getting too dull.

I keep wondering who I know that could be this person. I'd love to hire someone I already know and trust but just haven't come to that name yet.

If you're interested in the position, email me: peter@nbwesleyan.org and I'll get you a job description.