“Pastor Ken, I was here before you got here, and I’ll be there after you go. A former member of my first church said this more than 40 years ago, when she and I disagreed with the mission of the church. friendly discussion, but the boundaries were clearly drawn in an intractable way. Although she didn’t have an office, she was the EFHutton?of the church: when he spoke, everyone listened.
This is not exactly how I thought my pastoral ministry would begin, but it has become an opportunity for the congregation to work through theological differences. The church, located in a picturesque and picturesque seaside community, where many tourists spent the summer, was a fusion. of several churches throughout the year. As a result, he represented conservative and theologically liberal evangelical perspectives on faith and ministry.
- In our disagreement over the mission of the church.
- I feared that the church would maintain a biblical and elegant testimony in the community.
- And worship the one true God in a way that sustains biblical truth.
- The woman wanted the church to be nothing more than a formal social club.
- He also wanted the church to protect a group of women associated with the church that was composed mainly of people from the community who were not Christians or members of the church.
- This group was known for hosting the best Christmas and summer fairs.
- In the area.
- But it had nothing to do with God.
- The problem was complicated by the fact that this group had raised funds to redecorate the 150-year pastoral home just before my family moved there.
Although the evangelicals of the church were a large majority, we were sensitive to the history of the church with its various theological perspectives, and we were also the only church in a distinguished area of the city, so we moved slowly and deliberately. It took nearly four years for the church to overcome these tensions. Finally, the congregation voted to align itself exclusively with the evangelical beliefs of biblical truth, and the community group was invited to part with the church, which they did, but not without tears and sadness. It has been a pleasure to serve other churches as interim pastor and pastor over the years, and they have had capable and effective leaders who loved the Lord and were willing to follow biblical teaching. In my first church and the next, I learned some principles about dealing with difficult people. Here are eight:
Every ministry, including working with difficult people, is God’s work, so we can be deeply grateful, even if it is painful and we do not always understand what is going on, after all, it is not about us, it is about God. .