As we talked about in my last posting, Lord willing, whatever challenges you are facing in your ministry will ultimately be able to be worked out and you will continue to serve the Lord in the ministry where you are at currently. But those times do happen when the Lord makes it clear that a parting of the ways is necessary. In my last posting we talked about how to “LEAVE” when those times happen and I encouraged you to leave with grace. Beginning today I want to share a few blog postings about what I learned in regards to how to “LOOK” for a new ministry.
When I resigned from my ministry back in September of 2010, I was faced with a situation I had never faced before in 24 years of pastoral ministry. For the very first time I had to look for a new ministry position. I had made ministry changes twice before, but each time these doors opened up for me while I was currently in a ministry that was going very well. So when it came time to look for a new ministry on my own I was starting at square one, not having much of a clue where to begin. So where do you start when you are faced with the task of looking for a new ministry? Here are two preliminary boundaries I put in place as I began the process:
First, I would be patient. I don’t know about you but patience is difficult for me. Yet, I wanted to be sure that the next ministry assignment I took was the one where God wanted me. I didn’t want to take the first church that showed an interest in me nor did I want to settle for God’s permissive will. I wanted to be right smack dab in the middle of His perfect will for me and that would take patience.
Second, I would spread my net wide. I have known some guys who have found themselves suddenly looking for a new ministry and who put the parameters that they were looking for in a real small box (It had to be a church in a certain geographical location; It had to be a church of a certain size; It had to be a church of a certain denomination; It had to be a church with a certain worship style, etc). I decided to open up the boundaries as wide as I could be comfortable with and allow God to weed out the churches that got caught in the net. I will talk more about this in my next posting.
Be sure to read my other blog at http://www.folkslisten.blogspot.com/. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.
When I resigned from my ministry back in September of 2010, I was faced with a situation I had never faced before in 24 years of pastoral ministry. For the very first time I had to look for a new ministry position. I had made ministry changes twice before, but each time these doors opened up for me while I was currently in a ministry that was going very well. So when it came time to look for a new ministry on my own I was starting at square one, not having much of a clue where to begin. So where do you start when you are faced with the task of looking for a new ministry? Here are two preliminary boundaries I put in place as I began the process:
First, I would be patient. I don’t know about you but patience is difficult for me. Yet, I wanted to be sure that the next ministry assignment I took was the one where God wanted me. I didn’t want to take the first church that showed an interest in me nor did I want to settle for God’s permissive will. I wanted to be right smack dab in the middle of His perfect will for me and that would take patience.
Second, I would spread my net wide. I have known some guys who have found themselves suddenly looking for a new ministry and who put the parameters that they were looking for in a real small box (It had to be a church in a certain geographical location; It had to be a church of a certain size; It had to be a church of a certain denomination; It had to be a church with a certain worship style, etc). I decided to open up the boundaries as wide as I could be comfortable with and allow God to weed out the churches that got caught in the net. I will talk more about this in my next posting.
Be sure to read my other blog at http://www.folkslisten.blogspot.com/. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.
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