Rhythms of Life and Ministry: Transformation Over Success
For the past few months, I’ve focused on what I call Transforming Pastoral Ministry.
In this specific series of post, I am attempting to propose a new way for pastors and leaders to serve and minister to the church.
It’s a way that’s built around a host of Pillars tethered to a particular cluster of Rhythms!
Remember, these Pillars are the what of pastoral ministry.
By that, I mean that these five areas are the principal areas of concern for any ministry. They are:
- Calling: I define calling as signature convictions around who we are and why we are here. This applies to both the individual minister as well as the congregational identity.
- Congregational Care
- Congregational Leadership
- Preaching and Worship
- Soul-Care, Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
I can pretty much assure you that if you demonstrate some level of competency in three or more of these areas, you will likely have what most would consider a successful ministry.
Success, however, is not the target when I aim what it means to shepherd and lead a congregation.
As a minister, I don’t aim, shoot, or strive for success, per se. Congregationally speaking, we seek a bit deeper at Pillar!
We aim for transformation.