By Doug Smith
So far in this series, we have considered one-on-one mentoring and internships as avenues for training men for pastoral ministry in the context of the local church. In this article we will contemplate the idea of church-based seminaries.
A church-based seminary differs from what is now known as a more traditional seminary in several ways. A church-based seminary is directly accountable to one local congregation, whereas the seminary’s accountability may be to multiple churches or to a denomination. A church-based seminary will be smaller than most well-known seminaries. This usually means a better student-teacher ratio and more interaction out of the classroom. It may mean less library resources are available to students, but this gap may be overcome in churches with large collections or in churches located close to major traditional seminaries. One can expect cost of tuition at a church-based seminary to be less than most traditional schools.
Church-based seminaries may or may not be accredited by a regional organization (tuition fees will probably reflect this, but not necessarily). Church-based seminaries may or may not exclusively employ their own church staff as instructors; some provide classes with professors from other churches or schools. For example, The Midwest Center for Theological Studies, in addition to faculty from their own church (such as Dr. Sam Waldron and Dr. Richard Barcellos), have utilized professors such as Drs. Tom Nettles, Tedd Tripp, and Don Whitney to teach semester-long or intensive modular courses.
The pastor(s) and church must also agree on what the church-based seminary should accomplish. This may take some time to pray through, talk through, and hammer out (although it should be the heartbeat of the pastor(s) and then presented to the congregation). Should it only train students for the ministry? Should it be accredited to give their graduates more of a credential than they might otherwise get? If seeking accreditation, what agency should one go with (a regional one that accredits secular schools as well, or an agency that only accredits religious schools)?
Who will lead the school? How will the pastor be involved?
Should it train students from the home church only, or open it up to others? What kind of standards will be required for admission? How will you handle students who fail academically or morally?
What kind of curriculum, resources, and faculty will it utilize? What a church decides about accreditation will factor in to these considerations. Will multiple degrees be offered? Will languages be required? Will all requirements for the degree be met through the program or will students be allowed to transfer credits? Is there a substantive library available on site or nearby (especially if the church is near a large traditional seminary or religious graduate school)? What will be the requirements for those who teach, including doctrinal and ecclesiastical commitments, as well as the amount and quality of pastoral and/or teaching experience and educational credentials?
Will separate facilities be needed for instruction or will it suffice to adapt present classrooms?
How will the school be funded? Does the church have a budget to help subsidize it (particularly in the first few years until it gets “off the ground,” if that is the intention)? Are there businessmen or donors who want to help underwrite such an effort? How will tuition and fees paid by students or their sponsors figure in to the financing of the education? Will any financial aid or scholarships be available for students?
What ministry opportunities will you provide for students?
Question for Prospective Students of a Church-Based Seminary
Are your beliefs substantially the same as the church? Is it somewhere you could recommend to others or a place of the type you would feel comfortable serving in some day? In a church-based seminary you will be more immersed into one particular church and its beliefs more deeply than you would be in a traditional seminary. If there is not a high degree of compatibility and theological affinity, it will be a long, hard road, or you may be bailing out (or kicked out) early.
What are you hoping to do with your degree? Some church-based seminaries will offer more one-on-one time with professors, but if the school is not accredited, one may not be able to use the degree in obtaining future education. If your goal is the Ph.D. program, or if you aspire to teach in an accredited college, graduate school, or seminary, you may want to take accreditation and the rigor of the program into account, as well as the credentials and ministry experience of the teachers.
If you do not believe your ultimate goals would be met by a church-based school and are still interested in having some of your education from such a setting, find out if courses transfer to the school of your choice. I have taken classes from a church-based seminary that I am not pursuing my degree through, because of a goal I have. However, the caliber of professors and courses they offer are just as good as a traditional seminary and they transferred to my school (and the cost of tuition was less).
What is the cost? How does it compare to a traditional school you might also consider? Are there scholarships or financial aid you can use (either from the church seminary or from other sources)?
What is the schedule? How might this work for you in the short term and long term?
Does the school have a good teacher/student ratio?
What ministry opportunities will be available to you through the school?
Have you visited the seminary, spoken to graduates, and received recommendations for this option from leaders you trust?
If you are at a church that has a seminary and are thinking about theological education and have been encouraged by your church to pursue it, are you thinking about the option right in front of you, with people you are already organically connected to?
Thankfully, there are those who have blazed this trail already. Those who are considering starting a church-based seminary would do well to learn from some already in existence – some for decades. The mention of a school or church is not an unqualified endorsement, but those considering such education may want to look at schools such as those below.
The Bethlehem Institute – a ministry of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary – a ministry of Inter-City Baptist Church, Allen Park, Michigan
The Master’s Seminary – a ministry of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California
The Midwest Center for Theological Studies – a ministry of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, Kentucky
Shepherds Theological Seminary – a ministry of Colonial Baptist Church, Cary, North Carolina
Reformed Baptist Seminary – a ministry of Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, Easley, South Carolina
In the next installment of this series, we will look at ways churches can partner with other churches or ministries to provide theological education in the context of the local church.
What do you think? Do you know of some other churches training pastors through a church-based seminary or academy? What are some other things churches and students should consider when contemplating this type of model?
by Doug Smith
(This article was originally published at Said at Southern.)
In my last article on training pastors in the local church, we looked at one-on-one mentoring, where a pastor takes an aspiring pastor under his wing. This is the most direct way of training men in the context of the local church. However, it is not the only way. Another good way to train pastors is through an internship.
An internship can and should overlap with one-on-one mentoring, but factors that generally distinguish an internship are a defined purpose, length, and funding.
The internship needs a definite purpose, which may be broad or specific. For example, a “pastoral ministry” internship could have interns doing and observing, as well as reading and listening to, all sorts of things in relation to the pastorate. An internship can also fill a gap or focus on a specific area. For example, Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, provides a five-month, intensive “ecclesiological internship” that focuses on the local church through extensive reading, writing, discussion, and observation. Other internships may call for more participation. I am currently an intern with the New England Center for Expository Preaching. A core component of the internship is preparing and delivering expository messages week after week.
In regard to length, internships can be for a summer, a semester, or otherwise agreed upon amount of time.
Interns need to food to eat and a place to live, so funding is a critical component of an internship. While it is conceivable that some internships could work without a stipend, let’s face it: most men seeking a theological education can’t afford several weeks or months with no income. And it is hard to hold down a job and derive much benefit from an intensive internship at the same time, since interns need to sleep. So, internships tend to provide housing and some sort of income on a weekly or monthly basis, although some require students to hold down a secular job. A church can fund an internship if it has a large enough budget. Another option is for an individual or business to underwrite the stipend of an intern or interns.
For churches, pastors, or others seeking to provide ministry internships, there are several matters to consider, but they will all be grounded in the purpose of the internship.
Who will lead this program? Will the senior pastor, an associate pastor or other elder, or some combination of the pastoral staff? (It is probably most beneficial when all are involved, but having one person primarily responsible for an intern is helpful.)
What is the focus? Will it be broad, covering many facets of pastoral ministry, or will you focus on one or two specific areas, such as ecclesiology, preaching, or counseling?
Will the internship be a supplement to a seminary education or a part of an exclusively church-based model? If a supplement to seminary education, one could seek to fill in gaps by providing more in-depth training for areas in which students and schools may be weak. In some instances, one can partner with a seminary to provide applied ministry or supervised ministry experience credit toward a degree. Consider when the internship would work best: before entering seminary, during seminary, or after seminary (or any of those times).
Will your internship be more focused on observation or active ministry, or will it be a combination of both? Will the intern be allowed to sit in on leadership meetings? Will he be allowed to preach sermons in the church or teach a Sunday School class? Will you have reading or course requirements for the intern prior to his arrival? Consider implementing standards for accountability and assessment of the intern in assignments he is called to fulfill (time log, guidelines for response papers, evaluation forms for sermons/lessons, final de-briefing, etc.). It should be clear what the intern should be walking away with: improved skills in one or more ministry areas, more of a first-hand idea of what it is like to be a pastor, a more Biblical understanding of the local church, etc.
Will you aim to train men in your own congregation, men from churches in your association or denomination, or theological students at large? Will you have educational requirements (high school, bachelor’s degree, enrollment in seminary, etc.)? How will you screen the applicants (application form, phone interviews, checking references, etc.)? Will the internship be more suited to singles than husbands and fathers? Will it be too intensive for dads to fulfill their responsibilities in the home?
How will you publicize your internship? Obviously, if it is limited to men in your own local church, this is not a major issue, and might be most prudently spread by word of mouth. However, if you have a broader audience in mind, consider maintaining a website and sending information to various likeminded seminaries or Bible colleges.
How long will your internship run? This may depend on the availability of the one running the program as well as the church calendar. If partnering with a seminary for applied ministry credit, the school’s requirements may also factor in to this decision. A summer-only program may be better suited to some churches. Others may be able to have interns for two semesters or all year-round.
How will you fund the internship? Funding is important on several fronts, from how it will impact the interns (and possibly limit who can come because of financial reasons) as well as whether you will be able to have multiple interns at once. If you are a pastor and your church has a large enough budget, consider teaching on the importance of training other men and explain that an internship is a practical way to do that, as you seek to enlist the congregation to partner with you to provide such an opportunity. If you are a business owner or leader, consider helping make an internship possible for future pastors, particularly for churches where a godly leader would like to train others but cannot afford to fund an internship at the present.
However you proceed with an internship, be sure that requirements and expectations are clear up front for all involved or this could be an experience your intern and church would like to forget. The old adage “to fail to plan is to plan to fail” should be heeded here. Producing a syllabus is one way to help ensure that you are not failing to plan.
Finally, an internship, at least in the beginning, should probably be considered to be a fairly fluid thing, always a work in progress. Whether starting from scratch or adapting another model, sensitivity to the particularities of the local context of the internship is prudent. Certain programs work where they work because of the context of their church as well as who is working them and whom they serve. Your education, experience, church, and students may have different needs, so you should structure and plan the internship accordingly. This may mean being willing to change some things mid-stream if needed, but it definitely means a post-internship evaluation is in order, by the intern and those who have overseen the internship (and possibly others who have had contact with him or sat under his ministry during that time). Over time, your internship can take on a shape that is more rigid. Reminding your interns that they are helping set the pace and pave the way for future interns is a good way to help them partake in the program with an eye toward future improvements.
Students considering an internship must also think seriously about the matter. Asking the following questions can help in gathering necessary information.
What is my motive for pursuing this internship? Have I prayed concerning this potential opportunity? How will this particular internship help train me for ministry? How will it make me a more useful pastor? Will it glorify God for me to participate in this program?
What does the internship require? Have I met or am I working toward meeting the prerequisites?
What does my pastor recommend? What do my professors and trusted friends recommend?
What stage of life I am in? What does my wife think? Will I be able to spend adequate time with her and my children? What kind of arrangements are there for income and housing? Will I be able to maintain adequate income with the stipend? Will I be a full-time intern, or will I have to hold down a job at the same time? If I have health insurance, will I be able to maintain it?
How is the timing in relation to my theological education? Will I receive credit for the program (not the most important issue, but not an unimportant one if one is in the midst of a degree)? Is now the best time or should I wait?
Have I talked to interns who have gone through the program? Have I shared with them my situation and desire? What do they advise?
If one determines that a particular internship is right, then preparation is in order. Contact the appropriate people and offices. Apply early – some internships have waiting lists and encourage applying at least one year before the desired semester. And come prepared not only to receive, but to give. Come with the mindset that you are training to be more useful to the people of God and to be an encouragement to those you are placed around during your internship setting. Take assignments and opportunities seriously and thank God for providing training that not everyone is privileged to receive.
Both those who are interested in offering internships and those who are interested in participating in internships would do well to take a look at some of the programs already in existence. Here are links to a few:
In my next article, I will examine the concept of church-based seminaries as another way to train pastors in the local church.
Doug Smith is blessed to be the husband of Krystal and father of three daughters. He is a
Are there other aspects that one should consider about offering or taking part in an internship? What are some other churches and ministries that offer internships relating to pastoral ministry?
by Doug Smith
(This article originally appeared at Said at Southern.)
The most direct way of training men in the context of the local church is through mentoring.
One on one mentoring can be one of the most rewarding methods of training others. It may possibly be the most difficult as well. It involves an investing, or pouring, of one’s life into another. It involves some vulnerability, because to truly mentor someone means that you are opening your life to scrutiny – which you have already done to some degree if you are a pastor. While meeting to discuss a book is one good way to mentor, effective mentoring will involve more immersion in ministry – both watching and doing. When a pastor invites a man in training to travel with him to minister, to attend elders’ meetings (if the church has a plurality of elders), and gives opportunities to serve and speak (all while providing helpful feedback), he is cultivating a good mentoring relationship.
In the mentoring process, the pastor should encourage the student to pay close attention to his life and doctrine (1 Tim. 4:16). If a pastor must make himself a bit more vulnerable to mentor, the student must be sure to cultivate a teachable spirit. While the pastor should be careful and tactful – yet truthful and helpful – with his feedback, the student must be capable of receiving encouragement and critique in the right manner.
Several factors play into the feasibility of establishing a mentoring relationship, but they center on the mentoring pastor and the student. Looking at these factors will help determine to some degree how compatible, available, and profitable a potential mentoring relationship may be.
Pastors or others considering a mentoring relationship will need to examine their commitments – in theory and practice. This will help them decide whether they are available for this type of relationship and, if so, to what extent. Depending on one’s setting, there may be seasons of pastoral ministry that make an intensive mentoring relationship impossible (apart from neglecting legitimate family and church commitments). However, that does not mean that no informal mentoring is possible. Pastors and churches must see 2 Timothy 2:2 as part of the mandate for pastoral ministry, and seek to make that a reality. It has been well said that pastors should not be considered as being like the apostle Paul if they do not have a Timothy.
Delegating duties that do not properly belong to the pastor is one step that can be taken to freeing a busy pastor. For example, if a pastor of a small church is responsible for secretarial duties, could there not be a member who could volunteer time to process office paperwork and print the bulletins? If the church has a plurality of elders, one elder could specialize in mentoring, although it would be even better if each elder could mentor a student.
The pastor, of course, should always seek to be a model of that he teaches, paying close attention to his own life and doctrine (1 Tim. 4:16). When men make shipwrecks of their ministry, the church is hurt. But the closer one is to ground zero, the more damage is sustained. The student will be deeply hurt by a mentor’s fall. If one is not modeling attention to right living and teaching, one is not in a position to be a mentor (or pastor). This does not mean that one must be perfect, but that he must be serious about his own sanctification if he is to help train another man.
The student seeking a mentor also has several matters to consider. A student must examine his own commitments and availability. Being committed and available at the local church should be expected of church members, and students are no exception. Single men may have more opportunities to be intensively mentored, since financial and family commitments are usually less demanding for them than for husbands and fathers. Yet, men who have less availability usually have some availability. Informal, less frequent mentoring is far better than none.
The student should seek a pastor that he truly wants to learn from. The motive should not be to impress the pastor and network oneself into the right circles in hopes of getting a job. The motive should be to seek to be a better servant of Christ by learning from one who has gone down that path a bit farther already. The student should seek a man who is completely committed to the Scriptures and the Gospel of salvation only through Jesus Christ. In addition to healthy doctrine, the student must look for a godly man, whose life is shaped by that doctrine. The student need not agree with the pastor on every nuance of theology, but there must be some basic agreement and there must be respect for him. Otherwise, the mentoring experience will likely go sour.
Ideally, the student could be mentored by his own pastor. Yet, especially in large churches, this may not be possible. In such a situation, another church leader or godly man who knows and lives the Scriptures would be options to consider. In these matters, the student may need to exercise pro-activity – without being pushy. He can make the first move by asking the prospective mentor for a time to talk and share with him his desire to learn from him.
There are other situations where neither the pastor nor anyone other potential mentors are available (or even interested). Here the student may be able to find a godly mentor in a pastor of another ministry, but will need to carefully consider how this may impact his involvement in his own local church. In this scenario, less-intensive mentoring may actually increase the student’s fruitfulness in his own local church. But if the mentoring relationship draws one increasingly away from his own local church, it might be time to change churches so one is actually committed to the people he is spending time with, or it might be better to scale back the relationship with the mentor.
If a pastor and student determine that there is sufficient compatibility and availability for a profitable mentoring relationship, then they will need to decide how they will proceed. Will the student shadow the pastor on most of his ministry activity? How frequently will they meet? Will there be ministry opportunities for the student along with feedback from the pastor? The details can be worked out and adapted to their situation.
Both pastor and student will need to evaluate the mentoring relationship from time to time. Is it going somewhere? Is the pastor able to actually provide some helpful training by teaching and/or example? Is the student teachable and learning? Have other circumstances arisen since beginning the relationship that make a modification necessary (whether by increasing or decreasing the intensiveness or even terminating the relationship)?
The potential flexibility of a mentoring approach has great advantages. It can be somewhere on the spectrum between formal and informal. The student could be a staff member, such as an associate pastor or pastoral assistant. He could also be a non-staff church member or a senior pastor of another church. Mentoring does not have to be structured in the same way as a degree program, and it can (and probably should) be combined with other avenues of obtaining theological instruction, providing extra safeguards and reinforcement to the student. The approach chosen should be carefully and prayerfully considered and adapted as needed.
In my next article, I will examine the idea of the internship as a way to train pastors in the local church.
What do you think? Are there other aspects to mentoring that should be considered when thinking how to train pastors in the local church?
by Doug Smith
(This article was originally published at Said at Southern.)
The church is called “a pillar and buttress of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15 ESV). The model of theological training presented in the Scriptures is one that directly involves the local church, particularly as qualified men train others to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2).
I began seminary classes in the Spring of 2007, by distance education. I am not very far along in the M.Div. program as yet, having completed only 14 semester hours. My status is still that of an Internet student, but I did enjoy my first on-campus class this past summer in a one-week module. I am hoping in the near future to move closer to Louisville or one of the extension centers for Southern Seminary.
Even before beginning seminary, I was beginning to see the importance of theological education being solidly anchored in the local church. This is a conviction that has only increased. I have had numerous conversations with others about this topic (including SBTS blogger, graduate, and Ph.D. student Matthew Wireman, who has given much thought to this matter as well). I am encouraged that our school’s president, Dr. Albert Mohler, also desires to see churches become more involved in training pastors (see his recent article, “Training Pastors in the Church”).
This series will examine various ways that a local church can become involved in the training of pastors. These methods can (and often should) overlap, so they are not necessarily cut-and-dried approaches. However, they are a suggested starting point, especially for those thinking through this matter or seeking to implement church-based theological training of some sort. I submit these ideas to the reader, not as an expert on this concept, but as one who is zealous about this topic yet still thinking through these issues. My goal is to stimulate others to consider the place of the local church in training pastors and how they might encourage or participate in this noble task.
There at least five models of theological education that can involve the local church in training pastors. I have listed them in order of most direct to least direct methods, although they can be combined and overlapped. The unifying theme of these ideas is that the church in some way, directly or indirectly, is attempting to take seriously the call to train pastors.
The first model, mentoring, involves a pastor pouring his life into an aspiring pastor, preferably over an extended period of time. Its central place in the diagram is fitting, since an ideal theological education would include this aspect along with other methods. The second model, the internship, would involve some mentoring, but it would be for a more defined period of time and likely be in a group setting. The third model is a church-based seminary, where the school is a direct extension of the ministry of one particular church. Churches could also partner with other churches or ministries to combine forces to offer training (the fourth model). The fifth model is the traditional seminary that is accountable to churches. Not all traditional seminaries are accountable to local churches, and I would argue that such institutions would, in effect, overstep their bounds and assume a task that they cannot legitimately claim.
I personally have benefited in some measure from a mentoring relationship, a church-based seminary, a ministry which partners with churches to train pastors, and a traditional seminary accountable to local churches. My articles, in part, will draw on my interpretation of these experiences, but will also point the reader to specific examples of these sorts of models. The final article will give some practical suggestions on thinking through and implementing church-based theological education, to help us apply a biblical approach to training pastors.
What do you think? Are there some other ways to anchor pastoral training in the local church?
I am excited to be writing a series for Said at Southern, entitled "Training Pastors in the Local Church." I will update this post with links as new articles are added.
Training Pastors in the Local Church: One-on-One Mentoring (Part 2 of 7) (local)
Training Pastors in the Local Church: Internships (Part 3 of 7) (local)
(All of the following posts are "local," i.e. on this blog)
Training Pastors in the Local Church: Church-Based Seminaries (Part 4 of 7)
Training Pastors in the Local Church: Partnering with Other Ministries (Part 5 of 7)
[Perhaps] Yet to Come:
Training Pastors in the Local Church: Traditional Seminary Accountable to Local Churches (Part 6 of 7)
Training Pastors in the Local Church: Suggested Base Curriculum and Conclusion (Part 7 of 7)
From the article by David Roach:
Russell D. Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, bemoaned the fact that people believe Bentley's claims."Every few years here comes another fraudulent, scandal-riddled 'faith healer,'" Moore said. "That's, sadly, no surprise. I am not dubious about healing. I believe that God heals today.... We all know, however, that there are those who will use the power of God to peddle a product.
"What's most tragic about this cycle, though, is the fact that there's always a constituency for guys like this. I fear that it's more than just P.T. Barnum's famous old maxim about the gullibility of the American public. I fear that there's something missing in our churches that drives even some of our people to charlatans. Might there be less of a demand for these traveling health-and-wealth revivalists if our churches spent more time on our knees in prayer for sick and hurting people?"
Moore encouraged believers to pray for the sick according to the commands of James 5:13-15 instead of looking to faith healers like Bentley.
"Perhaps if we gave more attention to prayer in our own churches, the most desperate among us -- in our neighborhoods and in our pews -- would have less reason to search out a self-appointed carnival-tent apostle," he said.
Locally, I have added two resource pages – links on the KJV Only Controversy and Advice for Bloggers and Blog Readers.
Some other things of note around the web and blogworld:
Thad Noyes has some good advice for you if you are "Already Behind in Your Bible Reading" for this year.
Dustin Benge pleads with pastors to mentor.
Phil Johnson has some thoughts on preaching from 1 Corinthians 1:21-22.
David Prince preached a challenging message in chapel at Southern Seminary on November 15, 2007, entitled, “When the Glory of God Becomes and Idol: Ministry in the Kingdom of Christ” (.mp3 format) and argues that those truly committed to the glory of God will do more than just talk about it with their buddies – they will talk to the kind of people Jesus talked to and be fervent in evangelism. Highly recommended listening!
Thabiti Anyabwile posts a list for reading on evangelism in 2008.
Tom Ascol supplies an excellent quote from John Newton on “zeal blended with benevolence and humility.”
Kevin Bauder is writing a series on “Fundamentalism and Scholarship.” Read: Part 1 - Part 2
Jason Button helpfully interacts with John Piper’s chapter, “Brothers, Bitzer Was a Banker,” (click here for the chapter from the book and here for the original article it was based on) from Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. This resource calls us to be diligent students of the Scriptures, encouraging original language study.
Tim Challies has started a series on the inerrancy of the Bible (see here, here, and here).
Phil Johnson and Dr. Bob McCabe (here, here, and here) have been posting on total depravity.
John MacArthur reminds us that spreading the gospel, not politics, should be our primary concern.
Allen Mickle issues a call for more scholarship in the realm of Baptist history and gives a good example.
Dr. Albert Mohler talks about a change of pronouns in speaking of abortion
Said at Southern has posted an audio message of Martin Luther King speaking at Southern Seminary in 1961.
Owen Strachan shares some reflections on his last day working in the office of Dr. Albert Mohler.
Books
Albert Mohler has a new feature on his blog – “The Reading List” – and one of his earliest posts is a brief but worthwhile review of Mark Dever’s The Gospel and Personal Evangelism.
Trevin Wax gives a brief review of an excellent resource, J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism. Although close to a century old, it is still quite relevant. In it he shows that liberalism and Christianity are two completely different things. This book would be especially helpful for those in nominally Christian colleges and seminaries to read.
Douglas Brown gives a helpful review of Bruce Waltke’s commentary on Genesis.
Is the recently published Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (edited by Carson/Beale) worth getting? (I certainly hope so, as I just ordered it the other day!) Here are some opinions:
---
Tomorrow, look for the conclusion of Dr. Jim Hamilton's article on "Spiritual Formation and the New Media: Making Good Use of the Mammon of Unrighteousness" (Part 1 and Part 2). Have a great day!
If anything should make you appreciate a faithful pastor, it’s spending time with one. Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry may not place you directly at the side of a pastor, but it will give you the distilled thoughts of 19 seasoned men of God on various aspects of the pastoral ministry.
“Timothy,” like Ira Pointer in Richard Belcher’s series of books that began with Journey in Grace, is a fictional pastor. Unlike Ira Pointer, whose story is filled with other fictional characters, Timothy receives 20 different letters from real-life pastors who encourage and warn him about the privileges and pitfalls of the ministry. Timothy and his wife, Mary, are parents of a two-year-old and are expecting their second child. Timothy is 26 years old, a seminary graduate who has just finished his first six months of pastoral ministry. The book is designed to profit those presently in pastoral ministry and those considering it.
Dear Timothy presents aspects of the ministry that all pastors should heed. The book is edited by one of the contributors, Tom Ascol, and features chapters by a variety of pastors, mostly from Reformed and Baptist backgrounds. Other contributors include Conrad Mbewe, Tedd Tripp, Ted Christman, Andy Davis, Martin Holdt, C. J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, Bill Ascol, Fred Malone, Raymond Perron, Ligon Duncan, Joel Beeke, Roger Ellsworth, Terry Johnson, Steve Martin, Phil Newton, Ray Ortland, Jr., and Geoff Thomas. These men represent over 480 years of experience in the pastorate.
The book includes chapters on priorities, self-examination, loving your family and flock, Scripture memory, prayer, humility, courage, the necessity of personal work, the importance of doctrine and study, reading the Puritans, preaching, worshiping, mentoring, missions, revival, and finding a place to settle. The last chapter is particularly relevant in an age when short pastorates seem to be all too common. Dear Timothy helps one to think through attitudes and practices. It emphasizes the importance of the heart.
Tom Ascol sets a good tone for the book in chapter 1, reminding pastors that they must make decisions based on the priority of the various things they are called to be. Beginning with the most foundational relationship, he lists that a pastor is supposed to be a Christian, a husband, a father, a pastor, and then a helper of others. Commitment to this order of priorities helps one to know what opportunities are best and when to say no. These priorities keep us accountable to God and others and are built upon one another like a pyramid, with one’s relationship with God being essential to fulfilling all the other priorities.
Ascol appropriately quotes Robert Murray M’Cheyne: “It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God” (p. 26). Tedd Tripp further underscores what this means for a pastor to properly love his family: “Man-pleasing is impossible, Timothy. It is destructive to yourself and to your family. You and Mary must commit yourself to graciously refusing every effort made by people you serve to set the agenda for your family” (p. 64).
One of the most helpful chapters for me was Andy Davis’ on memorizing Scripture. He gives five reasons to memorize not simply individual verses here and there but entire books of Scripture:
The spiritual discipline of prayer is not neglected in Dear Timothy. Martin Holdt writes that “prayer is our highest work. It is hard work. It is a fight against the adversary. It is a battle against the flesh. It is essential work. The minister who does not pray for his flock is no minister at all. He is proud because he does his work as if he can succeed without God’s power. He shows no pity because he does not realize that his people’s greatest need is the Lord’s divine favors upon them. Be assured of this, if he does not pray, he will pay a high price” (p. 105, emphasis mine).
C.J. Mahaney writes about humility. This chapter reminds the pastor that humility will affect how a pastor handles himself as a sinner, describing the humble pastor as a man characterized by “confession and the pursuit of correction” (p. 125). He further writes: “Timothy, we are not like cordless drills that can go all day on a single charge . . . All day, every day, I need to keep directing my thoughts to God, keep standing close to the cross, keep offering thanks for innumerable evidences of grace and keep casting my cares on the One who cares for me with such perfect love and faithfulness” (p. 131).
Mark Dever reminds the pastor of the need to be intentional for obtaining witnessing opportunities, since he is surrounded by Christians much of the time. He urges the importance of a burden for the lost when he writes that “the God we serve is the God who left the ninety and nine to go seeking for the lost one. Pore over Luke 15 in prayer and ask God to give you a heart for the lost, like that woman had for her coin, like that shepherd had for his sheep, like that father had for his son. Pray that lost people become precious to you. If they do, it will affect the way you prepare and preach. It will affect the way you plan your own schedule and the way you lead your church” (p. 165).
Raymond Perron instructs Timothy on the importance of sound doctrine, including the implications for his own life and the lives of others. He warns on page 186, “How much we need to remain in sound doctrine, avoiding the snare of always looking for new things!” He writes of guarding the flock from false teachers: “Let me remind you, Timothy, that the most efficient way of keeping the flock safe against the cunning and craftiness of wolves and against the various winds of deadly doctrines is to build a fortress of sound doctrine” (p. 189).
Furthermore, Perron gives these sobering words: “It has been said that the value of a thing is measured by the price paid for it. The cost of the souls that our Lord committed to your care was nothing less than the blood of the Eternal Son of God Himself” (p. 189).
Dear Timothy is an excellent and helpful book that whets the appetite for more. The book has an excellent, well-rounded bibliography that includes classics as well as modern works on theology and the practice of ministry. Most chapters include recommendations for further reading (or listening), citing sermons, websites, magazines, journals, and books to help the pastor. However, one hopes that one or more future volumes may be produced along the same lines, perhaps devoting letters to issues such as polity, church discipline, combating false teaching, guidelines for cooperation with other ministries and churches, legal issues, and the pastor’s personal finances.
Dear Timothy would be a great book for your pastor or a man interested in the ministry. It is also a good read if you want to understand what a pastor’s life is like. I believe this book particularly gives us at least three important reminders:
1. Ministry is serious. It is no light thing to serve Christ’s church as a pastor. The dangers and temptations are many, and the discipline and diligence needed is great. Pastors and congregations must see this calling as a sacred trust, and understand that the pastor is not only called to serve the church, but to live a life pleasing to God. This affects the details of our lives. The quality and quantity of time we spend in God’s Word and pursuing Him through the spiritual disciplines is a gauge of how serious we take these matters.
2. Aspiring pastors should build relationships and seek counsel from other faithful pastors, since reading books and taking courses are not sufficient preparation for being a pastor. There is much wisdom to be learned from seasoned ministers. In doing this, aspiring pastors must be teachable and eager to learn, in order to gain the maximum benefit.
3. Pastors should be involved in training others. In obedience to 2 Timothy 2:2, pastors should pass along their learning to other men, who in turn will teach others. The letters in the book remind us that the printed page is one way of doing this. Perhaps a book like this will spark fresh letters from other pastors. The letters may not be published, but they may have a ripple effect upon numerous other lives if one would manage his time and communicate practical, faithful wisdom about being a pastor. Of course, there are other ways of training others as well, such as internships, regularly meeting with pastoral aspirants, and sharing ministry experience with them (whether through supervised opportunities to teach/preach or through having them along for pastoral visits). But the point is, pastors need to take time and effort to do this, as the future of the church is affected greatly by the time spent (or not spent) in training others.
Do you appreciate the pastoral ministry? Spending time reading the letters written in Dear Timothy will help give you a new appreciation for the tremendous responsibility and privilege of being a pastor and should cause you to thank God for raising up faithful shepherds.
———–
This review is adapted from its original appearance at http://www.sharperiron.org/2006/11/03/book-review-dear-timothy-letters-on-pastoral-ministry/.
