In early 2022, Craig Carlisle read a report from Lifeway Research that struck a chord.
The study focused on pastors, the challenges they face and the enduring needs they sense in their personal and professional lives. Carlisle, director of missions for Etowah Baptist Association, was planning the association’s annual School of the Prophets ministry conference, and a theme for the conference emerged from his reading — “Essentials: Tools to Strengthen Today’s Ministry.”
“We selected seven of the identified needs we thought would be helpful to our pastors and laypeople,” Carlisle said, and April 24–25, six pastors expanded on those seven needs, speaking to pastors, ministry leaders and others at the 2022 School of the Prophets at First Baptist Church Gadsden.
‘Remain faithful’
Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged pastors to “remain faithful in a faithless age.” Speaking April 24, Allen pointed to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, his “son in the faith.”
“Timothy is tired, weak, discouraged,” Allen said. “Paul is writing to tell him to ‘buck up,’ to encourage him to be strong, to tell him to be faithful.”
It’s a message Allen said he delivers to pastors often as the cornerstones of American society shift and cultural forces seek to “redefine what we thought was beyond redefinition: marriage and human sexuality, gender and human identity.”
But in every generation, the church has faced conflict, he said. And regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen in public life, “the church is called to be faithful. Period.”
Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church, Saraland, and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, kicked off the lineup of speakers April 25.
Speaking from 2 Corinthians 12 on the topic of “Trusting God,” Litton pointed to the pain of modern life, specifically pain in congregations, pain in communities and the pain of leadership.
Though difficult, addressing pain is the “key to progress in our churches,” Litton said, because “the longer you avoid a problem, the more painful it gets.”
‘Embrace the pain’
“Pain humbles us. It drives us to our knees. It refines us. … And pain will drive you to Him,” Litton said. “Keep pressing on. Embrace the pain God has called you to and watch him gloriously move.”
David Eldridge, pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham, used the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 to encourage pastors in their personal devotional lives.
Eldridge pointed to the contrast between the two women: Mary, who was learning at the feet of Jesus, and Martha, who was serving those gathered.
It’s an apt metaphor for the pastoral life, Eldridge said.
“Jesus wants Martha’s attention, not her activity. … Martha’s busyness has become an obstacle. … Martha is preparing bread while the Bread of Life is in the next room. She is pouring everyone something to drink while the very source of living water is in the next room.”
“We (pastors) are like Martha,” he said. “There is a flock to feed. We must prepare the word of God for others to feast on. And the temptation is to prepare without feasting on what we prepare.”
Instead, Eldridge said, “all of our service for Him must first flow from the joy of an intimate relationship with Him.”
Value of friendships
Friendships matter as well, said Matt Henslee, associational missions strategist for Collin Baptist Association in Fairview, Texas, and president of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.
“We need friends in the flesh to keep us in the fight because the good fight must be fought,” he said.
He pointed to a culture where gripes and grumblings are common, from opinions on the pandemic to conflict within churches and the SBC.
“We’re all weary,” he said. “But the battle is worth it and we must fight it. And we must remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. It is His kingdom we are in, not ours. It is His word we declare, not our word. He only asks that we remain faithful.”
That’s why pastors need friends like Aaron and Hur (Ex. 17:8–16), he said, “to keep us in the fight.”
“Aaron and Hur couldn’t do everything, but they could do something,” Henslee said. “No task in God’s service is unimportant. … Who in your circle can you encourage?”
Sabbath rest
Pastoral sabbath was the topic Bart Barber addressed, based in Hebrews 4, but he said his approach to “rest” might be unexpected.
In confession and repentance there is rest, he said.
“If you are working hard to hide what you really are, would you give it a rest? … If you are carrying the shame of your past failures, give it a rest. … If you have taken on yourself the burden, having been forgiven by God’s grace, to straighten everybody else out, give it a rest.”
Sabbath in the Old Testament is an appointment, Barber asserted. Sabbath in the New Testament is a person. And that’s better, he emphasized.
“Sabbath as an appointment is ineffective to give you rest,” he said. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a day off — by all means do. But if you want rest, it’s only found in [Jesus]. Let Him in. Confess your inadequacies. Trust in Him that His grace not only saved you … but preserves you through your ministry. Let Him give you peace with the people and … joy in the midst of your service.”
Marshall Blalock, pastor of First Baptist Church Charleston, South Carolina, and the final speaker of the day, highlighted several points made throughout the day and reiterated the “absolute necessity of repentance and confession.”
Spiritual disciplines are good, but they are not the goal, Blalock said.
‘Set your gaze’
“The goal is to love God — heart, soul, mind and strength — and to be so moved by His love that your heart has a single-minded passion to bring Him glory by everything in your life.”
Blalock pointed to Moses, emboldened by God to accomplish many great tasks. But Moses did not get to the promised land. Moses did so much right, he said, but in a moment of irritation, “he no longer worried about God’s goodness and God’s mercy. It was about Moses.”
The first calling of a pastor is to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” Blalock said. “Gaze upon the amazing grace of God, upon His perfection, His power, His amazing love. … If we get this right, it takes care of everything else.”
How to watch
Watch full videos of the 2022 School of the Prophets, including worship music led by music evangelist Bob Smith, minister to seasoned adults at First Baptist Church Trussville; the Abundant Life Choir from MeadowBrook Baptist Church in Gadsden; and the FBC Gadsden choir, at fbcgadsden.org/live.
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