KEEPING A KEEN EDGE
Forum
July 1, 1986
What is the relationship between energy and effectiveness in ministry? A number of metaphors are used.
Some pastors see themselves as a mountain pool, needing both an inlet and an outlet to stay fresh. Others use the sine curve as a model, with fluctuations in energy and enthusiasm considered natural and expected. Both groups want to remain effective.
To find out how to keep a sharp cutting edge in ministry, LEADERSHIP editors Jim Berkley and Marshall Shelley met with four Minneapolis-area pastors:
-Leith Anderson, from Wooddale Church in nearby Eden Prairie
-Bruce Chapman, of First Evangelical Free Church in Minneapolis
-Phil Sackett, of Excelsior Bible Church
-George Voeks, long-time pastor of East Emmanuel Lutheran Church in St. Paul.
Leadership: You appear to be happy survivors in ministry. What's your secret?
Bruce Chapman: I have a principle for long tenure in a church: People can put up with pastoral weaknesses if they know the pastor is growing. When pastors start to stagnate, there will be discomfort among the members.
Of course, finding a good marriage of pastor and church in the first place is important. Our courtship is so short and the tenure is supposed to be long-it's often a high-risk engagement.
Phil Sackett: For me, a strong sense of mission is crucial. It's hard to imagine anyone working effectively for a lifetime without having that sense of call right in front of them-almost written on the inside of their eyelids. If I lose sight of my mission, my vitality disappears fast.
Chapman: I find today that not many pastors say they have a distinct call. That troubles me; I had a very distinct sense of call, which has helped keep me from giving up at some points.
Leith Anderson: Let me turn that a little, Bruce. I think ...
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