November 13 1995

ARTICLE TOOLS

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At one of the early Promise Keepers' rallies, founder Bill McCartney played a hunch. Without knowing what the reaction would be, the renowned football coach invited all pastors in the arena to join him in front of the podium. Slowly at first, then in steady streams, a sampling of America's ministers "went forward" in a scene reminiscent of a Billy Graham crusade.

What happened next took everyone by surprise. Beginning first with enthusiastic applause, soon everyone was on his feet, stomping and cheering in support of the pastors who stood somewhat embarrassed, yet clearly moved by the spontaneous outpouring.

Just as Promise Keepers has uncovered a huge movement of men desiring to draw closer to God, it has also tapped into a strong felt need of both laity and clergy: a revival of commitment to America's forgotten shepherds. We say forgotten because the focus of evangelicalism in recent years has shifted away from the local church pastor to high-profile leaders whose large churches, books, and media ministries have set the agendas for local church ministries. One of the downsides of this shift from local to national leadership is that it has inadvertently devalued the role of most local church pastors.

"Fully half of the pastors in my district have expressed a desire to leave the ministry," noted one denominational leader in the Midwest recently. The fact that he asked to remain anonymous underscores the problem. "We have this idea that the pastor never gets discouraged." Why do today's pastors feel so downtrodden, especially when we probably have the most highly educated and professional corps of ministers in evangelicalism's history?

First, there are the new demands on the pastor brought on by the increasingly complex problems ...