The Learning Curve - Christianity Today

A doctoral student analyzed the preaching of John Bisagno not long before his retirement from 30 years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Houston. Bisagno had intentionally changed his preaching style four times to meet the changing needs of his congregation—from evangelistic to doctrinal, then expository, and finally to a conversational style espoused by Rick Warren.

We asked what other intentional changes pastors make in the course of their ministry.

A plan to pray

A dozen years ago, I found a simple way to make prayer prominent in my weekly schedule. Our family had been going to the Rocky Mountains on vacation every summer for 25 years. Each summer, my wife gave me a half day to seek a quiet trail for a solo prayer retreat. It was always a renewing venture in the high country, alone with the Lord.

Then one year I asked myself, “Why do I do this only once a year? Why not once a week, all year long?” This launched a habit that has locked prayer into my schedule amid the squeeze of pastor’s world.

I settled on a fixed time each week (Wednesday afternoons) for a personal prayer retreat. It has been my habit now for 12 years. Many weeks I walk for an hour or more offering my thanks and releasing my heart’s hassles. I stop and sit quietly for a few minutes. Then, I stroll on again, offering my requests and disciplining myself to stay at least three hours start to finish.

David RiemenschneiderBloomingdale, Illinois

Sabbaths, long and short

The Hassidic Jews in New York faithfully observe the sabbath. They refrain from work of any kind. They don’t cook or turn on a light switch. On Saturday, the elevators in their buildings are programmed to stop at every floor, because they won’t press the buttons.

My family and I tried it for four Saturdays. We ate cold food and sat in the dark. My brother thought I was a fanatic, but we learned the value of the Sabbath.

Since much of our ministry is on the weekend-Saturday is the best day to utilize volunteer workers-we decided to make Friday our staff Sabbath. None of our 26 ministries operates on Friday, and the offices are closed.

And we took it one step further. Gordon McDonald wrote if you don’t plan your day, somebody else is going to plan it for you. That’s especially true of your prayer time. So the staff and I agreed to reserve the morning for prayer. We don’t answer the phone until ten o’clock, and I stopped having breakfast appointments. I saw Gordon once and thanked him for that. It has saved my ministry.

Taylor FieldNew York, New York

A new kind of calling

When Trinity Baptist Church in New York City first invited me to become its associate pastor, I knew I couldn’t fulfill the job description. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a pastor. It wasn’t Trinity’s ministries or open position that drew me from a job at Young Life in suburban Texas; it was its location.

Months earlier when my wife and I were vacationing in Manhattan, we stopped at a Hungarian bakery. A man in the corner called out to the waitress by name, then to a friend at another table. The whole café was engaged in conversation. Far from the stereotype of unfriendly New Yorkers, this bakery was alive with community.

Dee Ann and I were drawn to this big city of little communities. As Abraham was called to Canaan and Paul to Greece, so we felt called to New York City.

Trinity changed their job description to fit my gifts, and I came on staff. Within a year, I became the senior pastor. But my calling remains to this place. Now I’m the man in the café who knows everyone by name. If we ever have to leave Trinity, I would find some way to minister in New York. This place is my home.

Keith BoydNew York, New York

Divining the disciplines

In my first two years of fulltime leadership I worked my way through 20 to 30 centimeters of books on leadership. I found Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy and spent 200 or 300 hours on the Sermon on the Mount. This has changed my paradigm on the Christian life. Currently I am diving into Christian disciplines, trying to find ways to authenticate faith and make it into something tangible and practical.

Peter MuellerIgling, Germany

Learning to trust

After struggling through a mentor relationship in my first pastorate, my wife and I began our second ministry with a “circle the wagons” mentality, not really knowing who we could trust.

Ten years ago, after much frustration, we began to open up to those around us. We became receptive to teachers and leaders. We made a concerted effort to find pastors who were where we wanted to be in our ministry and began seeking their fellowship and guidance. Today we are pastoring a revived church.

Pastor Stephen MackBoston, Massachusetts

Become willing to confront

I usually avoid confronting people, but I have grown in this area over the years. I now understand what Fred Smith said: “Whenever I am tempted not to act in a difficult personnel situation, I ask myself, ‘Am I holding back for my personal comfort or for the good of the organization?’ If doing what is good for the organization also happens to make me comfortable, that’s wonderful. But if I am treating irresponsibility irresponsibly, I must remember that two wrongs do not make a right.”

We must be willing to confront paid staff and volunteers in an honest but loving manner—slow to confront on personal issues and quick to confront for the sake of the church.

Stan SullingerGarland, Texas

Watching and waiting for God

For 12 years I strived to get people involved and offer effective programs. I’d plan first and ask God’s blessing later.

I have learned in the last year to wait and see where God is moving within my congregation, community, and city and then get to work. This is hard for me, because I’m a man of action. Contemplative prayer and waiting have not been a part of my practice. Henry Blackaby worte, “Find out what God is doing and join Him in it.” It sounds so simple, and yet it’s so difficult to to wait. But I want God’s kingdom, not mine, to come into my church.

Allen PickettCity, State