Wabash & New South

Connection

Superintendent's Notes

We often speak about our identities as if they are not connected to our place in life.

Let me explain what I mean.

Who you are is interwoven with where you are in life. Your age, your maturity, your current relationships all shape your identity.

To be sure, there is a part of us that will out last our aging bodies. But where you are in life is an important aspect of how we act, live and make decisions.

This thought was sparked this week while I was attending our MEG training at the new Center for Pastoral Formation for the Free Methodist Church.

There was an article that was referenced entitled: Shooting the Rapids: The Cycles of Pastoral Ministry by Dan Pietrzyk.

Here is a link to the article:

Shooting the Rapids Article

This article may be pastor focused, but I think the truths apply to all people.

The basic idea is this: There are cycles in our ministry careers. Cycles where we ask different questions, have different needs, need new challenges and flow from different motivations.

These cycles were discovered by the author through a series of surveys of pastors at different points in their lives. What they discovered is that there are 3 main cycles in the longevity of pastors/ministers. These cycles generally fall into the cycles of Early, Middle and Latter seasons of ministry.

It is important to know where you are in the cycles of your ministry so that you recognize the temptations, the needs and the opportunities that each season brings.

I won't simply walk you through the article since you can read it. Here is a picture that summarizes our ministry cycles:

A few books have been helpful for me as I have discerned where I am in ministry and what I need:

My hope in sharing this is that you would do some prayerful reflecting on "where" you are in your ministry life and realize both that you are not alone and you are not "crazy". Much of what you feel (and need) in ministry is effected by "where" you are in ministry.

Philippians 1:6:

I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God bless

Superintendent John

Advent Resources

NEW

For the past several weeks I have included Advent resources from the Free Methodist Liturgical Network.

The Network has published New Advent readings based upon The Free Methodist Way.

Be sure to check it out:

Free Methodist Chaplain Newsletter

Pastors - are you struggling with debt?

The Free Methodist Church has a program called Financial Training for Pastors that may help. If you go through the program and meet certain criteria, you may be eligible for $2000 to go toward your debt if you complete the program.

Make sure you check out this link:

Financial Training for Pastors