I just spent the day hosting 100+ pastors at Ambrose University for our Annual Pastors Conference.  A day where we work with our various sponsors and partners to bless and encourage pastors in their work.  It was an excellent day that exemplifies the culture I want to create at Ambrose University and Seminary – loving and caring for shepherds who care for their flock.

I had several conversations with pastors who were tired and weary, and who took the day to breathe, be refreshed, and be encouraged. 

As I reflect on the day and look to the future of pastoring, a couple of reflections:

1. We need to reclaim the high and holy calling of the pastoral calling.  A calling to shepherd, not to celebrity.  A calling to serve rather than to power.  A calling to prayer rather than to programs.  There needs to be a recalibration for the future of the Church and God’s mission. I want Ambrose to be at the cutting edge of this shift.
2. We need more pastors.  This is both an educational and a professional problem.  We need more robust (not less robust) formative (not just informative) educational pathways that pair the best of the church with the best of the academy.  We need true ego-free collaboration between the church and the academy.  I see this best illustrated in Ambrose’s partnership with the Church of the Nazarene, where we work closely together to create robust, cost-effective, formative pastoral-formation pathways. We also need to rethink the profession and how the church considers pastors and their work and calling in the life of the church. I write more about that here.
3. We need to keep the pastors we have.  I had numerous conversations with pastors at our conference who were on the edge of throwing in the towel.  We need to create more pastors, but we are doing so in vain if we place them in unhealthy churches with unhealthy expectations.  There needs to be a recalibration and a renewed focus on character and inner formation rather than just outward practical competencies.  This is what we are committed to at Ambrose.

God is doing something signifigant and I am committed to discerning and adapting with the church as we seek to prepare men and women for ministry and mission.

On mission with you!