Category Archives: Shepherd’s Care

Last June, Matt Horan began a facebook page named “Rev. Dr. Steve & Jeannie Harper Theological Seminary.” It was a tongue-in-cheek title with the intent of creating an online community for those of us who have journeyed together as colleagues, … Continue reading →

[This post arises from the wearying challenges many of my clergy friends are facing these days. If you are among them, I hope you find this encouraging. If you know a clergyperson who is troubled and tired, feel free to … Continue reading →

I believe the future of the Church turns on how creative we are willing to be. The pandemic has suspended “business as usual” for institutional Christianity. If we return to it as things open up, we will have failed to … Continue reading →

The idea of contemplation can be explored in depth. [1] Today I want to look at it in a more short-and-simple way. I am writing about it because I believe the way forward for the Church is for it to … Continue reading →

Every denominational system has a small-to-large ladder, with varying factors that enable every congregation to be placed on it. The intent is to move clergy “upward” as time goes by. The intent to “promote” pastors is a sign of institutional … Continue reading →

In this season when many clergy are moving, or deciding to stay put, it’s good not only to have confidence that God is at work, it’s also good to remember the context in which God works: here and now. Years … Continue reading →

Jeannie and I are reading the recently-published biography of Eugene Peterson, ‘A Burning in My Bones.’ [1] We are reading it the way Eugene and Jan read books, out loud to each other. The book is great; the way we’re … Continue reading →

While in seminary decades ago, I came face-to-face with the great challenge of ministry: careerism. I heard it from a chapel speaker who said simply, “Don’t turn your calling into a career.” [1] Around that same time, a professor told … Continue reading →

I remember the morning it happened. A Sunday morning. Opening the door to my study, I found that an envelope had been slid under it. I opened it to find an unsigned, type-written letter that said essentially, “This church will … Continue reading →

Jesus had a clear pattern for his life and ministry.  Luke described it in 5:15-16, “Huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed of their illnesses.  But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.” His pattern was a … Continue reading →

​This is the final “In-Sight” post for this year.  It resumes on Monday, January 7th.  Since I have written about love in the last two “In Sight” posts, I thought I would conclude the year with another one. __________________________________ For … Continue reading →

This is the final “Shepherd’s Care” post for 2018.  It will resume on January 4th, and the series about time and ministry will continue. _________________________ If indeed time is the precious commodity of our time, we must not only be … Continue reading →

​Earbuds may go down in history as one of the most insidious devices ever invented.  They draw us away from the world in which we are present into some other world. That other world may be a good one, but … Continue reading →

​In his book, ‘Working the Angles,’ Eugene Peterson noted that among all the expectations placed upon him by his congregation and denomination, there was not an expectation that he pray.  It was assumed that he did (and of course, he … Continue reading →

​My conversations with pastors over the years have revealed that the feeling of not having enough time is a major cause of both frustration and freneticism.  The nagging feeling that there is too much to do and too little time … Continue reading →

The title still stops me in my tracks: ‘The Unnecessary Pastor.’ [1]  It still cuts against the grain of my ego despite my agreement with the focus of the book and its effort to get us clergy off center stage, … Continue reading →

​While in college and seminary, I pastored several small churches.  And after graduating from seminary, I was appointed to serve another one.  Like other small-church pastors, I was tempted to buy into the “bigger is better” view, but I am … Continue reading →

​Last week, we looked at what Eugene Peterson calls “the pastor’s question.”  It is the question that moves clergy from impact to investment.  It is a question churches can also ask to move themselves the same way.  Re-worded for the … Continue reading →

​I have benefited from the insights of Eugene Peterson in many ways, but none more than from what he calls “the pastor’s question.”  He wrote the book, ‘The Contemplative Pastor’ to explore the question in detail, but here is the question … Continue reading →

​I cannot resume this series without moving quickly to commend the practice of self-care.  Ministry is a people-oriented vocation, and as we give substantial amounts of time and energy to the service of others, we can easily neglect to nourish … Continue reading →

With this post, I resume the “Shepherd’s Care” category, with occasional posts meant especially for clergy.  The post below re-opens the series, providing an indication of the vantage point from which I will be writing this time around.  Previous posts … Continue reading →

Here’s the final reminder that the weekly (Wednesday) “Shepherd’s Care” post will now be found at the new blog:  NewPastors (www.newpastors.wordpress.com).  The first post in this new location will be Wednesday, February 6th.  NewPastors launches this Friday, February 1st at 1:00 … Continue reading →

If you read the “First Day” posting on the 14th, you already know that the “Shepherd’s Care” weekly post will move to the new blogsite (NewPastors), when it begins on February 1st.  The first posting for “Shepherd’s Care” will be … Continue reading →

The weekly “Shepherd’s Care” posting is still taking a break.  You’ll receive new information about it in the January “First Day” post (which is now scheduled for January 14th at 7:00 p.m.) and also on January 16th at the regularly-scheduled … Continue reading →

The weekly “Shepherd’s Care” posting is on hiatus for a while.  A larger discernment process is under way about ministry-related material, and the “Shepherd’s Care” category may merge into it. Each Wednesday, I’ll provide you with an update, so you … Continue reading →

There is so much more we could say about visions and about visionary leadership, but I’ll conclude the present exploration with two closing comments…. First, some have mistakenly believed that visions can only come through the designated leader.  I know … Continue reading →

Often in the Shepherd’s Care weekly posting, we have pointed to the necessity of character and integrity in ministry.  I want to use today’s post to connect that conviction with our exploration of vision. In My Utmost for His Highest, … Continue reading →

The two preceding postings about “Vision” have nailed down the fact that the Source of every vision is God.  In fact, if the vision comes from us, we’re in trouble—because, if nothing else, we’ll attribute something to God that may … Continue reading →

I think there are four key dimensions to a vision—not four separated visions, but four dynamics at work to produce an abiding sense of vision in us… First, a foundational vision.  We sometimes call it a dream.  We can see … Continue reading →

We have come to the final category we’re using to explore the vocation of ordained/professional ministry. We spoke of the “ingredients” for vocational ministry:  values, call, and mission. We then moved on to look at the “integrity” for vocational ministry:  … Continue reading →

We’re exploring the subject of integrity as it relates to the vocation of ministry.  Clearly, we are doing little other than scratching the surface on huge issues that can make or break us, and our ministries.  But perhaps even a … Continue reading →

We’re continuing our exploration of the ethical dimensions of vocational ministry.  If we give ourselves to “the virtues” (essentially understood as the fruit of the Spirit), those qualities of life produce character in us. Character is the word we use … Continue reading →

We’ve been looking at some of the key “ingredients” in a ministry based upon a vocational paradigm rather than a professional one.  Our location, values, humanity, and giftedness combine to give us a sense of mission. But “ingredients” are not … Continue reading →

The ingredients of our mission include more than geography.  They include bearing witness to the two great commandments:  loving God and loving others. As I have understood this more and more over the years, it’s amazing how both the message … Continue reading →

Over the years, I have found Acts 1:8 to be useful in periodically reviewing my calling.  Last week, we shared the three levels of calling, but those levels must be lived in various “locations”—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of … Continue reading →

When we are in touch with our values, our humanity, and the centrality of God (via gifts and graces), we may begin to sense “where” God is leading us, and “what” we are being called to be and do.  In … Continue reading →

We did not speak last week of the call and humanity because it’s more important than the call and God.  We spoke of it, because we are tempted to skip over the human factor and make our call exclusively “supernatural.” … Continue reading →

Our exploration of personal and congregational values is one way of showing that God uses our humanity to communicate His call upon our lives.  As Parker Palmer has put it, God takes our lives seriously; so must we. Every aspect … Continue reading →

As those engaged for the spiritual leadership of communities, we can never limit our understanding of values to those that we hold personally.  We must realize that we move into communities that have corporate values. Sometimes we learn this the … Continue reading →

One of the maxims of the spiritual life is that God uses everything and wastes nothing.  Parker Palmer has said essentially the same thing in his book, Let Your Life Speak, when he writes that God takes our lives seriously, … Continue reading →

I want to spend another week on the relationship between vocation and location, sharing with you a mistake I made early on in my ministry—a mistake that I continue to see made all over the place today.  It is the … Continue reading →

Living vocationally is not something abstract or detached.  When our ministry is rooted in God—when belonging to Jesus and listening to him is our primary understanding of vocation, we find that one of the first things he tells us is … Continue reading →

The word “vocation” comes from the same root that give us the word “vocal.”  The simplest way to understand vocation is to realize that someone else is speaking.  This puts us into an immediate listening mode. One of the biblical … Continue reading →

I’ve decided to make the next theme what we might call “Practical Formation”—a comparatively loose arrangement of postings, all of which have a bent toward helping shape our ministries in a down-to-earth way.  I want to begin with what I’m … Continue reading →

Beyond the usual wear-and-tear of messy ministry, we have to also factor in the inevitable loss of “heroes.”   Even those who have significantly influenced us will eventually let us down somehow or other.  And whether we like it or not, … Continue reading →

I’m glad to read that some of you have benefitted from our extended exploration of “the downward spiral” which I originally picked up from Dr. Archibald Hart.  If you want to track more of his thinking along similar lines, I’d … Continue reading →

We’ve spent five weeks looking at “The Downard Spiral”—the journey from vitality to anxiety, which can overtake those of us in spiritual leadership.  I thought it would be good for us to see that this tendency is not new.  In … Continue reading →

If we do not tend to burnout, we fall to the final level in Dr. Archibald Hart’s “downward spiral”—depression. To briefly summarize, we move from Stress (“I can handle it”), to Fatigue (“I cannot handle it”), and then to Burnout … Continue reading →

If we do not deal with fatigue we spiral downward into burnout. I misunderstood burnout for a while.  I thought of it as a loss of ability, but that’s not what it is.  It is a loss of interest.  We … Continue reading →

If we do not acknowledge and deal with stress, we move downward to the second level, fatigue. Instead of feeling energized and sufficient, we feel drained and depleted.  The trouble is, by the time we pay attention to the fact … Continue reading →