Pastors4Pastors

We are living in a world where there’s a great deal of stress and disagreement. Churches struggle to decide whether to meet in person, require masks, have singing, and figure out how to navigate the technology of hybrid worship. There is a lot of disagreement about these questions, and when there’s disagreement, pastors are going to hear about it from those who disagree with those decisions. Criticism, disappointment, anger, and division are rampant. What is in short supply is encouragement.

E. Stanley Ott, who goes by Stan, and Lee Zehmer are advocates for the power of encouragement. Stan is president of Leading Moments, whose mission is to develop vital leaders for the church and the world. He is also the author of several popular books, including “Pray Daily: Igniting Our Passion for God,” “Twelve Dynamic Shifts for Transforming Your Church,” and “Transforming Your Church Through Ministry Groups.” Lee serves as Transitional Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in High Point, NC. Together they host a podcast called Building One Another.

We got together recently for a delightful conversation about pastoral and congregational vitality, and the power of encouragement in a fault-finding world.

The conversation you are about to hear is one of the most important we have had on this podcast because it is about one of the most prevalent and difficult issues folks face in every one of our congregations, but also one of the most ignored by our congregations. I’m talking about addiction. 

Dr. Ed Treat is a Lutheran pastor and the director of the Center of Addiction and Faith. You’re going to hear the moving story of his journey from addiction to recovery and one of the saddest parts of his story is how little support he received from the churches, pastors, and even seminary he attended. Ed has some very convicting words about the lack of understanding and pastoral care most pastors and churches exhibit toward those struggling with addiction - including the families of addicts. But, he also has some words of hope about how we can begin to include these hurting people in our circles of care and prayer.

This first episode of our second season is about a topic that has become an integral part of every congregation’s and every pastor’s life: our church’s presence on social media. My guest is Dee Decker, digital and social media strategist for the Presbyterian Church (USA), and you are going to very quickly learn that you are almost surely doing your social media wrong! In the first 10 minutes of our conversation, Dee completely turned my thinking about the use of social media upside down!

An insightful and stimulating conversation with 7 pastors about the challenges and lessons learned after one year into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most pastors either embrace our American holidays without question or try to ignore them and hope our congregations won't notice, which they always do. Our conversation with James Calvin Davis, author of American Liturgy: Finding Theological Meaning in the Holy Days of US Culture, is both edifying and entertaining!

By the second decade, most pastors have experienced the crises and joys of ministry. We chat with four pastors about what brings them joy and what saps their soul and how the pandemic, in spite of its challenges and difficulties, has confirmed their sense of call to the ministry.

Continuing the honest and insightful conversation with five pastors in their first decade of ministry about the unexpected highs and lows of being a pastor, how the pandemic has made life even tougher, and what they did NOT learn in seminary!

A fascinating and inspiring conversation with five pastors in their first decade of ordained ministry, discussing the adjustments of identity, theory becoming practicality, and questions about whether this is really where God is calling them!

We begin our series on the stages of ministry by having an inspiring conversation with three seminary students (actually, two students and one recent graduate) who are not only preparing for ministry, they are already engaged in it! You, too, will be delighted and inspired by the stories of these three amazing people!

This episode begins a series focusing on the stages of ministry from seminary to retirement and beyond. Each episode will feature a conversation with pastors in a different decade of their ministry, and we begin by asking the Rev. Dr. Tim Cargal, Associate Stated Clerk for Ministry Preparation and Support with the Presbyterian Church (USA) what he's seeing as he works with seminaries and seminary students.  Is seminary enrollment growing or declining? Is it easier or more difficult for seminary graduates to find a first call?  Is it more difficult for white women and both men and women of color to find a church to serve? And do more of the older ministers need to retire to make room for the younger ones?!

The very first episode of this Podcast was published the first week of June and it was a conversation with a half-dozen pastor friends to see how they were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.  We got together again on the first week of September, and my friends were gracious enough to join me once again to check in on how their lives and congregations are doing after 9 months since the world shut down! This conversation is full of laughter but there is also a lot of stress, tiredness, and frustration in their voices, as well.

We recorded this episode in three conversations.  Here are the names of the folks you will hear, in the order they appear: Kim Priddy, minister of the Sedgefield Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, John Johnson, pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Graham, NC, and, Charlie Lee, who is the senior minister of the Starmount Presbyterian, also in Greensboro.

The second group of three are: Kathy Beach, the one newcomer to this conversation, Kathy is pastor of the Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in Blowing Rock, NC, then, Ron Shive, senior minister of First Presbyterian in Burlington, NC, and Ernie Thompson, senior pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC

Last but not least are Travis Milam, pastor of First Presbyterian in Pilot Mountain, NC and Dana Fruits, pastor of the First Presbyterian Presbyterian Church of Mocksville. 

Two resources are mentioned in the conversations that you might want to look into. The first is Ministry Collaborative, a ministry of the Macedonia Ministry Foundation. Their website is https://mministry.org. The second resource is PhoneLivestreaming, which can be found at https://phonelivestreaming.com.

Put on your khakis and get ready to crunch the numbers on your...wait for it...membership rolls! That's right! Just as in an election, church membership numbers represent people, and it is important to be knowledgeable, honest, and accurate about just how many sheep are in the flock. How else will you know when one wanders away and gets lost?

Everyone is feeling stressed right now, and that certainly includes pastors who, for nearly nine months now have been improvising their way through a new reality where, as one pastor put it, "all of the most enjoyable parts of ministry have been taken from us, leaving us with the hardest and least satisfying parts."  How do we handle that stress?  Well, I have a very special guest with me for this episode, a clinical psychologist with the same last name as mine!  Tune in for a very special episode with some helpful information on how to handle your own stress, and help others to do the same!

In this second part of our exploration into what it is like to be a clergy couple, we talk with Josh and Lara Musser Gritter, co-senior pastors of the active 700-member First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury, NC. Lara and Josh share the joys and challenges of bringing their distinct gifts together to lead their congregation, especially in these difficult days of the Covid-19 pandemic. You're going to be inspired by their love for each other and for Christ's church!

Life is stressful for everyone these days, and that certainly includes pastors! But what if there were two pastors in the family?  Does that mean twice as much stress?  We begin a two-part exploration into what it is like to be a clergy couple where both spouses are actively engaged in pastoral ministry.  We will talk with two clergy couples who are in very different settings but who also share the joys and challenges that come with this rare but growing subgroup of pastors.  In this episode we will talk with the Reverends Jay and Dr. Erin Bowers who serve two different churches in two different denominations, and are parenting two daughters, as well!

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is a writer and pastor in Chapel Hill, NC, He recently wrote a column for The Presbyterian Outlook titled "Our Very Humannness". In this episode we chat with Andrew about the false fronts pastors sometimes present, the pedestals we sometimes are placed on, and how we balance professional boundaries with the need to be vulnerable about our very humanness.

Jill Duffield, editor and publisher of The Presbyterian Outlook news magazine, shares her observations on the state of the Presbyterian Church and most mainline denominations in the midst of declining numbers, influence, a pandemic, and dramatic social change.

Three months ago we began Pastors4Pastors with a conversation among a half-dozen pastors about what it is like to lead a church in a pandemic that forced them to close their churches' doors.  In this episode we check back in to see how things are going six months into the COVID-19 pandemic: have things begun to settle down? How are they doing pastoral care? Are congregants beginning to put pressure to return to in-person worship? How are finances and what are their plans for stewardship campaigns this fall? Most of all, how do they see the current adaptations becoming part of their churches' ministries even when things return to normal?

Participants in order of appearance are:

• Ernie Thompson, senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, NC
• Charlie Lee, senior minister of the Starmount Presbyterian, also in Greensboro.
• Dana Fruits, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Mocksville
• Travis Milam, solo pastor of First Presbyterian in Pilot Mountain
• Kim Priddy, minister of the Sedgefield Presbyterian Church in Greensboro
• John Johnson, pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Graham, NC. 

The Covid-19 pandemic, heightened tensions between races, and the presidential election campaigns are all combining to bring tension and division in our churches and culture. And when our churches cannot meet together for worship or fellowship events, we are left to the devices of social media that make it far too easy to use harsh language, name calling, and social shaming.

In this second of a two-part episode we continue a conversation with James Calvin Davis, religion professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, Presbyterian minister, and the author of a book for just such a time as this: Forbearance: A Theological Ethic for a Disagreeable Church (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2017).  Joining the conversation is the Rev. Leeann Scarbrough, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Talladega, Alabama.

Dr. Davis talks about the meaning of forbearance and the six practices that can lead us back to unity even in our disagreement. James is also the author of “In Defense of Civility: How Religion Can Unite America on Seven Moral Issues That Divide Us" (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010). Both books are available on Amazon.com.

We are confident you will find this conversation helpful as you seek to bring unity to your congregation.

We are living in the most controversial and divided of times. The Covid-19 pandemic, heightened tensions between races, and the presidential election campaigns are all combining to bring tension and division in our churches and culture. And when our churches cannot meet together for worship or fellowship events, we are left to the devices of social media that make it far too easy to use harsh language, name calling, and social shaming.

In this first of a two-part episode we have a conversation with James Calvin Davis, religion professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, Presbyterian minister, and the author of a book for just such a time as this: Forbearance: A Theological Ethic for a Disagreeable Church (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2017).  Joining the conversation are the Revs. Leeann Scarbrough, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Talladega, Alabama and Susan Takis, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wildwood, Florida which serves the vast retirement community called The Villages. This community has made national news recently with controversial social activism on both sides of the political spectrum.

Dr. Davis talks about the meaning of forbearance and the six practices that can lead us back to unity even in our disagreement. James is also the author of “In Defense of Civility: How Religion Can Unite America on Seven Moral Issues That Divide Us" (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010). Both books are available on Amazon.com.

We are confident you will find this conversation helpful as you seek to bring unity to your congregation.