Adaptability in Ministry

I’ve been in ministry in some form or another for close to thirty years. One thing that I have noticed is that ministry keeps changing. There is only one who stays the same, but everything else changes. Hebrews 13:8

Hebrews 13:8 NIV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Circumstances change

My first church wasn’t the norm, but I probably have been in more abnormal pastoral circumstances than I’d like to admit.

As an assistant/youth pastor, I went into a situation that was poorly communicated and had to learn a bit the hard way. I moved two provinces away from home and was planning on interning for the summer only to find out, once I had arrived, that I had to find work while I was interning, my housing was unsure, but I could stay with a guy whose wife and family had just left him, and the church had just had a split, and another one was on the verge of happening.

Communication is key

One thing that I have learned is that you can’t communicate too much.

Who knows, I maybe would have missed what God had for me in Ontario if I had followed this principle, but it would have saved me a lot of stress and uncertainty.

My first week in Fort Frances, Ontario, I went out to look for work. I didn’t know the area. I really didn’t know any people, but I had $800/month for tithe, rent, food, entertainment, a lease payment on a car, license, insurance, and gasoline. Needless to say, I needed two or three days employment every week just to make the ends meet.

I think that it was a Tuesday that I went for my job interview and was hired on the spot. I would start Thursday 8:00-6:00.

Here were some of the tasks: splitting wood, peeling poles, cleaning a chicken barn, building fence, fixing fence, weeding in the market garden, shearing sheep, picking bales, and last but not least killing chickens. If Mark, my boss, could find a hard way to do anything, he would do it.

Did I say that communication was key? I didn’t negotiate very well on my wage. I started at $40/day, and was up to $45 when I decided it was time to move on.

After working for a construction company, I found work at a Feed Store which gave me stability in my income so that I could do the work of the ministry.

Circumstances change

I worked for two years with the Lead Pastor when he was asked to resign. He had gone a very difficult season.

Six months before I arrived, Bob & his wife had lost a 16 year old son in a snowmobile accident. Obviously devastated, they didn’t take a leave so that they could heal. I can’t begin to imagine how it affected their ministry.

After Pastor Bob’s resignation, I was asked to fill in until we could get a new Senior Pastor. It wasn’t too bad, but I was juggling working at the Feed Store as well as fulfilling my duties as the Youth Pastor, and now I was asked to fill in as interim Pastor.

When the new Pastor came, he looked at the balance sheet, and said, “We’d love to have you stay on as Youth Pastor, but there is no money.” Now my budget had an $800/month hole. For the next 18 months, I worked full-time at the Feed Store, as well as volunteered at the church.

These are just a couple of examples, but how do you adapt to changing circumstances? A mine closes, the oil patch slows down and a key family in the church moves away. Somebody gets their nose out of joint and leaves the church. Covid-19 hits and the giving in your church drops by 20%.

These are real issues. You lose a child or the love of your life. How will you navigate through these storms of life.

It could be something as simple as your car breaks down and it’s going to cost $2000 to fix it but you just don’t have the money. I think that the church can be affected more quickly than places like grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies. Often when hard times come to those in our congregations, the first thing to be cut is giving.

Let’s look at our budgets? What are fixed expenses, now I’m speaking from a worldly perspective.

Tithe/Missions/Benevolence

House payment or rent, power, water, electricity, insurance, unforeseen expenses

Car - payment/insurance/maintenance/ gas, etc.

Food - groceries/restaurants

Phone, internet, Cable, etc.

Personal - clothing, haircuts, medicine, etc.

Other debt

Family activities - sports, dance, etc.

When the belt is tightened what goes first? That answer is different for everybody.

Keeping your head on straight

As the Pastor or leader in your church people look up to you. They look to us for guidance and direction. They expect that we will have the answer.

Sometimes the stresses and the pressure that ministry brings can be overwhelming. We need to practice what we preach.

Cast our cares...

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Come to me...

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Finding help

Are you the same as me in the sense that sometimes it’s hard to admit weakness? Everybody needs to think that everything is okay... even when it’s not.

We tell others to lean on us, but we find it hard to lean on others.

Galatians 6:2 NIV

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

I will say this, in ministry we need to be careful with whom we air our laundry. Those that we might think as our closest friends in a church can turn on us when they see weakness. We need to find people that we can trust, maybe a fellow pastor or a close colleague that understands. My mother-in-law said to my wife, Donna, “Ministry can be a very lonely place.”

In our District we help provide counseling when our pastors or their families are going through a tough time. We also have access to a Pastor’s helpline provided by Focus on the Family.

It’s crucial that we don’t isolate ourselves but that we get connected to others inside our District. You might not need help, but what about the person who is alone and has no one to help them in their time of trouble.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 NIV

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Not being stuck in the mud

Sometimes in life and in ministry, we can believe in something so much that when somebody comes with another idea or even a tweak to our idea, we can take it personally or even as a threat to our leadership. We can find it difficult to delegate or when we do delegate, we can find ourselves micromanaging those that we have seemingly empowered.

Even though the word of God never changes, even the message of the gospel never changes, sometimes the way that we present it changes. Let’s be willing to hear others out on how they see ministry. Much more can happen when we work together in unity.

Guard your heart

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

When I was young in ministry, I didn’t guard my heart closely enough. I let an offense settle in that almost cost me life in ministry. Was I right? Was I wrong? It really doesn’t matter. All that really mattered was whether not I protected my heart.

It’s so easy to stew over criticism. Some people think that they are God’s gift to pastors, to keep them on the straight and the narrow, but we need to guard our hearts above all else.

Pay attention to your thoughts. Pay attention when Satan is trying to discourage you with negative thinking.

If allowed, it can destroy our ministry, and even our testimony.

Over the last year, I read a book called, “Choose a changed mind.” by Anita Pearce. Some of the principles seem so elementary, and yet some of those principles can be life-changing if we put them into practice.

I recommend that you read the book, but one of the key thoughts in the book is this: Holy Spirit empowered thinking. We can choose to allow those around us to influence our thoughts, but if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to empower us, He can transform us into the people God wants us to be.

Two verse in closing, and then I’d like you to share some experiences how God has helped you to adapt in your ministry.

Philippians 4:8 NIV

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.