STATEMENT OF NEED AND PURPOSE:

Every Godly pastor and elder board desire to be spiritually healthy. Together they seek to build a spiritually healthy ministry. This is God’s desire. As in physical heath care, so too in spiritual care, it is good to have checkups on a regular basis. Mentoring can greatly assist in maintaining a healthy life and ministry. Shepherding the Shepherd is designed to provide such care.

It has been said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound a cure.” Taking time to schedule a yearly checkup is not difficult. However, when you are feeling well, it is easy to overlook its importance. The same pattern is often experienced in the ministry. Therefore, Shepherding the Shepherd seeks to be a timely reminder to pastors and their deacons / elders to evaluate their lives and ministry. Spiritually healthy leaders assure a spiritually healthy ministry.

In some cases, due to the rigors of their calling, pastors experience unusual spiritual pressures from within and from without. These come in many forms: burnout, perfectionism, apathy, discouragement, depression, domineering control, indebtedness, a false sense of failure, pride, moral failures, bitterness, marital and family stress, criticism, unrealistic expectations, the list is seemingly endless. While ministering to others, pastors often unwittingly neglect their own spiritual care. At the same time, the lay leaders God desires to use in building up and assisting the pastor, are either unaware of or avoiding their responsibility to esteem, encourage, and hold accountable their servant leader. The end results can be devastating to the pastor, his family, and the Family of God.

It is not uncommon to find pastors, who are discouraged and disillusioned. This is universal in all denominations and all sizes of congregations. Some have abandoned their call in defeat. Others have fallen to various temptations. Many find themselves with little energy, no vision, and a mere maintaining of the outward image of their call. The destructive effects go beyond the pastor’s life and call. His spouse and family are negatively impacted, his staff and lay workers experience disunity and dysfunction, and the local church perishes for lack of a vision.

Shepherding the Shepherds, has been established in order to provide the following spiritual care: rekindling, nurturing, evaluation, healing, instruction, and vision casting for pastors and elders / deacons. This will enable the purposes of God for the pastor, his family. and the congregation to flourish unto the glory of Jesus Christ. Thereby, satan’s attacks, which are meant to kill, steal, and destroy God’s servants and church, will be thwarted.

This mentoring ministry will consist of both onsite visits and offsite accountability contacts. Using the Scripture as our authority, we will actively seek the Holy Spirit’s rekindling and renewal in the life of the pastor and elders. The desired result is that God will be glorified and His eternal Kingdom expanded.