"...one of the issues which is a tremendous challenge for us is the theological divide of Calvinism and non-Calvinism."

In my mind more interesting than Cal/non-Cal story

However, the one I see more often than any other now is the lack of relationship building on the part of pastors and staff members. There is less pastoral work going on now than ever before. There is less relationship building with church members and lost people than I have ever seen before. While we all deeply want and need relationships, I see more of a corporate model and pastors believing that as long as they preach great messages, that is all they need to do to build up their church. I can point to many gospel preaching pastors over the years whose churches have been dying rapidly. I believe this is the number one mistake I see in our day and time.

Dr. Page mentioned many topics in this interview. He may be too gracious to say, though, that many congregations don’t want a pastor telling them what to do. Whether it’s an on-going fight for control or pride, these churches do not want the leadership of a pastor. Many pastors I know in this part of the country is fighting some sort of a battle with a faction inside his church, especially in the smaller churches (which may be why they’re small ;) ).

Brilliant, Brother Pete. Thanks for posting this! I agree with Brother Patterson 100%. I’m afraid many pastors put on a good Sunday morning show and spend the rest of the week preping for the next show and enjoying a really easy and in many cases high-paying job.

I really think the hard work of establishing those relationships and doing the hard-work of shepherding would eliminate many of the problems Brother Frank brings up in his post.

While I do think Andrew’s assertion is correct too often, I also think the door swings the other way as well. It used to be that people desired and valued pastoral input and involvement in their lives. Today, it is much more likely for people to downplay or even denigrate the pastor’s role in their personal lives. Investment in lives is a two-way street. Pastors must be ready and willing to be involved; members must be willing and available for involvement to happen.