Pastoral Ministry

Pastoral ministry is a dangerous calling and while few people would regard it to be such the snares and pitfalls associated with being a pastor is unquestionable. Regardless of the dangers and challenges associated with this gracious calling it is for me the most unique of all vocations that human beings can enter into, it impacts the lives of people in the here and now but also for the hereafter. In and of itself the idea of being a pastor may sound quite nice in religious and theological circles but oftentimes it may seems more like a curse to those who have had to take on this live changing and rigorous vocation that offers lasting and eternal rewards. Not until people comprehended the depths of pastoral calling and the strenuous strain it places on our families there will never be a full understanding of this glorious responsibility.

With words alone one cannot accurately do justice to the experiences pastors have to grapple with. Innumerable books are written on the subject but there ca sufficiently articulate the journey pastoral work entails unless some of those books are themselves wriiten by those who have trod this road.While I will never be dismissive of scholarly objective unbiased documenting or even subjective and biased opinions of this area of life these give credible and supporting insights on the work I was called to and endured for more than two decades.

An effective pastor seeks to be imformed not just through the Biblical narritiave but utilizes materails that aids and advances the work of pastors. I have experienced pastoral work in a variety of circumstances that has shaped and advance my life in numerous ways. As a pastor I was serious about comprehending the rigors of pastoral duties and my understanding of this intricate and complex vocation challenged me to see things through the eyes of the Great Shepherd. My goal was not just to be a pastor but to be a good and effective pastor fulfilling the call that was placed on my life and communicating the whole counsel of God. This task required deep competence, a focused approach to deep and consistent research while grappling with the Word of God and other materials relevant to what my duties and responsibiles were.

Day 2- Wrestling With Call to Ministry

Perceiving the call to pastoral work for me was a strenuous plus frustrating experience. I had the opportunity to dialogue with various pastors who themselves struggled with yielding to a call to pastoral ministry. For me it was like what Jacob experienced at the Ford of Jabbok recorded in Genesis 32. This is the place recorded in the Genesis account where the trickster Jacob had a life changing encounter as the Sovereign God sought to bring him into a new place and new relationship. It is a place of total surrender to God and where new character is formed and where anything that seeks to hinder the presence of God in our lives is torn away. The call of God on my life was irresistible in that I was unable to refuse the call and be at peace. It is irreplaceable as nothing can ever satisfy this call as this was God's greatest desire for my life. It is irrevocable in that God does not take away this call once it placed upon a life and this is my experience even up to this point in my life. Finally it is immediate. Once I accepted His call to pastoral work it was a now thing. I was guaranteed no salary, no comfort, absolutely nothing but His abiding and constant presence.

Engaging with men and women at this stage of their life was impacting and challenged me to not only accept God's call but to place my entire live exclusively under His Sovereign care. It fueled me with a new and deep passion that the path into pastoral ministry was meaningful as well as life changing and that I would never be at peace until I was in total submission to the purposes of God for my life. "Our Lord desperately longs to open His heart to us, and lead us into all truth. But our guile hinders it. That is why Jabbok is so necessary! A place to lay down all the final remains of guile, deceit, dishonesty! So the heavens will stay open to us! It is true our sins hide His face from us." (Wilkerson,1999).

That experience gave me much wisdom as my own sons future wrestling with the call to ministry, the final decision was for them to make. Quite obviously, my own experience was used as a guiding light and it was very personal and impacted my life greatly. My struggle lasted for three years and the counsel and advice I gave to my own children came to me unexpectedly. I will not pretend that I had some divine epiphany or a flash of light although it certainly came as a result of my own personal experience and time spent with God battling with the call to pastoral vocation.

Over the years in my pastoral sojourn I have often used this encounter repeatedly in teaching, preaching and in personal one and one contacts with persons who have had the same battles I have encountered with call to pastoral work. Over the years my own wrestling caused me to help others to understand the call to pastoral work. In my explanation and understanding what I was engaged in for twenty three years is not a commissioning to the unsuspecting masses or a specific location but more so it is to an individual and particularity Jesus Christ. This is fundamental and extremely important for the reason, that many persons who begin to encounter the calling after a sermon, an extensive period of solitude and self denial or perhaps a missions trip, feels as if God wants them to go to a geographic location, or particular ministry to serve.

It is quite possible that this is the place the Sovereign God may want an individual to be but other times God simply wants our availability. This is not to believe that God does not send people to particular geographic locations but I do believe and affirm from my personal experience that God alone holds the power to alter whatsoever He desires at any given moment since eventually we are summoned first and foremost into a connection with God therefore and locale is secondary. Subsequent to establishing that the ultimate call is to Jesus Christ, undoubtedly I affirm these values. These are fundamental in guiding others to come into full acceptance of the calling to pastoral ministry. When one senses that God is challenging them to be solely committed to pastoral call, such a one will begin to discern that pastoral calling is determined on the way we act in response to the aforementioned words.

Day 3- The Challenges of Pastoral Ministry

My journey through my theological training did not prepare me for the actual baptism of pastoral work upon completion of my academic training. My period of pastoral internship was at the robust and sophisticated congregation of the late Lindsay Arscott