I have been a licensed minister since 1986, in three different Pentecostal fellowships. I have never pastored and have received little encouragement and help towards that end. I’m 54. I intended on pastoring. Seemingly, i blinked and 33 flew by. No, I was never a problem for any pastor i served under. It’s just that i didn’t know how to go to that next step, and nobody seemed interested in helping me. Just be faithful where you are. If God wants you to pastor, it will happen, i was often told. No benchmarks, or steps were given to me to reach that goal. Is this a Pentecostal thing? I’ve served in churches anywhere from 70to 1000 members. In every case, there were a half a dozen licensed ministers like me attending the church. There never seemed to a focus on mentoring and helping us guys advance. In fact, in some cases it seemed the pastors were afraid of losing us. I’m 54 with a wife and 2 daughters (14 and 10). I’m youthful and energetic for my age. I have been a Spirit-filled Christian since 1980. I have advanced educational qualifications. I am bi-lingual. I am often told that I have unique insights in the word, seeing points that are often overlooked. I put others first. I do not toot my own horn. People that get to know me and see my skills are baffled that I am not pastoring. I literally am weeping as I type this. I cannot accept that it is too late. Jesus Christ is my everything. I want to reach the lost and minister to his precious sheep. But still, I do not know where to start. God help me. (Please forgive my over use of the word I)________________
If you are waiting for someone to walk up and tap you on the shoulder, chances are it won’t come. If you really want to pastor, find a church that no one in their right mind wants, dig in, and pastor it.If you think you’re weeping now, just wait.I’m not being funny. I’m dead serious. Start a Bible study and let it build into a group, a fellowship, and finally a church. It might not seem like much, but it’s a start.To paraphrase a quotation, To do great things for God, learn to do small things well.Go git ’em, brother________________
Maybe, or maybe not. Not trying to be argumentative, but there’s a reason some of these churches don’t have any takers. They are pastor-killers. I wonder how many men have given up on the ministry because they came to some church with a demon-vexed church boss who crushed their desire to minister.
Call your State Overseer and ask him if he has a broken down church that needs a pastor. If you are currently licensed in the COG, he might have a place for you if you are willing to move to the back side of the desert. You might want to check with other State COG Overseers and ask the same question.
But one reason why some of our ministers never pastor is that they are never offered churches they want, those who are close by their families, or are not offered salaried churches.It stick by my original idea though. Make a place for ministry________________
Re: If you want to pastor…
Is my age a factor now? 5________________
If I remember correctly, you are not in the COG? I don’t know what “hoops†your current fellowship has, but I can see roughrider’s point. But I have been there and know the “pastor-killing†churches Da Shiek speaks of. Some folks have zero interest in growth, they just want to feel good till they go home to Heaven (that’s a whole ‘nother convo because they sure seem to lack the heart for the lost you’d expect a Spirit-filled believer to have, but I digress). The first place I was appointed was like that. I honestly felt more like a hospice chaplain than a pastor, sent to keep the aging, frozen chosen comfy till the church died.The idea of starting a bible study and seeing where it leads is a great one. But as Zechariah said, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.†Zech. 4:10If you are open to the COG, there is currently an open opportunity in Robinson, IL. Check with Bishop Rick Whitter________________The World As I See Itworldjeffreysees.blogspot.com/Revuriah’s Facebookwww.facebook.com/people/Jeff-Richard/1226257444Jeffrey David Richard’s Myspace Musicwww.myspace.com/547856946
And I don’t believe you’re too old. I heard a preacher I enjoy, Dr. Dharius Daniels, say once the reason God put the story of Sarah having Isaac in the Bible wasn’t to encourage old ladies to get pregnant. It was to encourage us to conceive and birth something out of our spirit when others say “it’s too lateâ€.I’m 44, and I’ve often wrestled with the thought that I’m too old. I’ve just encouraged myself to do this now________________The World As I See Itworldjeffreysees.blogspot.com/Revuriah’s Facebookwww.facebook.com/people/Jeff-Richard/1226257444Jeffrey David Richard’s Myspace Musicwww.myspace.com/547856946
You said you served with multiple pastors
This will be an unpopulat statement Some pastors do not encourage ministers in their congregation to expand and launch out on their own. They will lose a supporter and often unpaid staff members. Also they are terrified that the minister will steal families to start churches. This is how some guys think________________
I served under several pastors, with the goal of pastoring my own church eventually. They all promised me they’d help me when the time came, and eventually, all of them supported me and helped me get my own church to pastor. I got very discouraged many times in the waiting. You probably know this already, but the fact is, planting a new church is the most likely option unless you are willing to wait a LONG time to get the opportunity to pastor. For me, it was a 10-year wait. I learned finally to be more assertive in my requests for help. I knew no one really in the CoG except my pastors who could help me get a chance. I will say that feeling sorry for myself was probably the most discouraging temptation of them all. I realized I would never get a chance to pastor until I did something to see that happen instead of just quietly, patiently waiting. I will also say that time spent, if learned from, is never wasted, and patience is so incredibly important to pastoring, so that’s one very good thing about waiting so long.I read somewhere that the 50s were a preferred age for pastors. In any case, you by no means are too old to find a church.
I started pastoring when I was around 51. It happened by accident. I got a call from a regional bishop who thought I was credentialed. He had a church that needed a pastor. I’ve been there a little over six years. Speaking of pastor-killing churches, I’m not at one…but the fact remains that I am the 50th pastor in it’s 108-year history. Consider that one pastor was here 12 years, and I’ve been here six, and you see that the average time spent here was less than two years.Good people, but a tough place–especially since it is one of the poorest towns/counties in Florida, and the town itself itself is in decline. We are half old white folks…and half teen and pre-teen African Americans (whose parents almost never come to church).If you feel the call to pastor, let me offer a few suggestions:1) The southeast is Pentecostal Central in many ways. Every decent church that comes open is likely going to have applicants that might have credentials that will challenge or top yours.2) Yes, you can find churches in the southeast like mine–old, in decline, very tough area, etc. Just understand that you will have to find a job to work full-time. I don’t receive a salary, but do have a parsonage. Some don’t have that. 3) In Wyoming, there are, I believe 2 or 3 Churches of God (there are nearly 40 Assemblies of God). Other western states also have relatively small numbers of churches (and small populations, so there’s that). Maybe the west has an opening if the SE doesn’t? 4) Find out the names of regional bishops in your state/area (or whatever they are called if you are not in the COG). Get to know them. Find out if they have a church that they are struggling to find a pastor for. Volunteer as interim and, if the people like you, they may want you–or, if you feel right about it, ask to pastor the church that no one else wants.5) Plant a church. Please, don’t start a church where there are already good churches. Find a place where there is not a good Pentecostal church presence…and start something small. Maybe in your house. Maybe at a local restaurant. Etc. If you are offering something other churches don’t offer, and if people like it, well….I wish I could tell you right were to go to get a job. But I don’t know myself. I figured I would die having wanted to be a pastor, but never making one. I am certainly not breaking any records as a pastor, that’s for sure. But for all my many shortcomings, I can say that I have tried to preach the gospel, even if not as effectively as others. If you feel that pastoring is what you truly are called to do, reach out until you find out about a church–in your denomination or not–that might desperately want a pastor. Methodist churches now have circuit pastors due to old churches that cannot afford their own (or cannot attract their own) pastor. It might be that you go in that direction (i.e., finding churches that just want someone to preach the Word and care for them).You may not land what others would call a great church, but you just might land where God can use you in a wonderful way.
It is not too late. I went through the process of licensing and let my Overseer know that I wanted to Pastor. A short time later at that age of 49 I became Pastor over a small Church. I recently retired from that same Church after 18 years.
-duplicate________________
I got ordained once, in a local congregation, not a denomination. But it wasn’t clear what I was ordained to. Licensed minister doesn’t really correspond to anything in the Bible, does it?I think this is partly a Pentecostal thing. A lot of traditional Pentecostal churches, the ones influenced by Methodism with its Episcopal structure, are kind of top down. Some A/G’s have Baptist-style ‘deacons’, so there is a little bit more of the idea of raising up some kind of leadership from within the congregation as opposed to coming down from the denomination, but their ministers still come from their denominational system and get acknowledgment from the denomination.But I think it is partly a Pentecostal thing. A lot of evangelical churches are like that. The pastors somehow get into that pastor class. They may go to Bible college or get on staff at some place and build up a resume. A lot of these churches do not have a mindset of people from within the congregation being appointed as elders to oversee the very congregations they are a part of, like we see in scripture.I am probably not the person to write this, and there may be books like this, but I think it would be helpful if there were a book that proposed the idea that success in ministry is not just ministering, but also raising up others to minister, a book that has a section on how to train up people in the local churches________________
My advice.Obtain and complete the School of Christ as taught by B. H. Clendennen.Having done that you will be equipped to excel in pastoral or any other description of New Testament ministry.This experience totally revolutionized my ministry, perspective and walk with God.I cannot recommend it strongly enough________________Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church
He is one of my favorites________________