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youthrev -> RE: need some advice (7/3/2008 9:51:26 AM)
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In a way I wish I had read this post earlier, but in a way I'm glad I didn't. I honestly don't know what I would have told you.
My initial question is, "What made you decide to leave?" I'm not talking about emotions, disappointment, stress, advice, or any of that stuff. I'm talking about call. Did God CALL you away or did you just give up or feel pushed out by the pastor? Hard as it is to understand, especially being young in ministry, there is a definite difference.
I say this because the last church I served at as youth pastor (I'm a career youth pastor pushing 20 years) was pretty rough. 20 years of bitterness and strife, no satisfaction with any pastor, every pastor being a scapegoat, unwillingness to change, an angry interim pastor, financial ruin, mass exoduses of members, and the list goes on. When I was called to the church I was told that they thought the worst was behind them and they were ready to pick up and move forward.
Well, they weren't. Within less than a year, the pastor left, the music minister went through a serious bout of depression, then left six months later after his recovery to a new ministry where he is thriving, we had an interim pastor who was greedy and stormed out angry after berating the church. I was the only staff at the church for almost a year and it was a wonderful and terrible time. Wonderful because God really moved in the hearts of some of the people, including my wife who was saved at that time. She was my first baptism. Also wonderful because my relationships with many of the people were strengthened as they viewed me as their shepherd and I had to step up to the plate and minister to so many that I never really would have been able to otherwise. I learned so much. But also terrible because of how tense the church was.
Eventually the church called another pastor and things seemed good, but he was misguided in some of his thinking and he was/is career oriented, wanting to teach at a Bible college or seminary, so his studies are his focus. He knows his Bible, but is not much of a shepherd. So the church is still hurting and they have no one to lead them and care for them.
How long was I there? Eight years. EIGHT YEARS!! Because God wouldn't call me away. But I learned so much and he was preparing me for where I am now. He has called us 600 miles away to be at another church with a humble staff and wonderful church members who want so much to reach the lost and they invest to do it. They expect the same of me, and they expect me to stretch to do it. What a terrible blessing! Hard work for which I may not see the results for years? Ah, youth ministry. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Don't ignore God's call. Embrace your winepress. In a way I'm sorry to hear you are leaving, but in a way I fully understand. If God had let me leave when I wanted to, I don't know where I would be today, but it's not where I am. God has perfectly suited you to be where He called you. Ask God, "What now?" and do whatever He commands. Don't give up. If you need to, take a couple days silent retreat to be alone with God (and your wife if you need to). Go camping for a weekend and just seek God. Allow him to heal you. Be broken before Him and just read and meditate on the Scriptures.
God bless you as you follow the Great Shepherd.
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