Caring for the Shepherd: Finances, Faith, Family, and Fatigue
October 14, 2025
Host: Dr. Jamie Mitchell
Guest(s): Keely Rule, Lou Huesmann
Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 10/14/25. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.
Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.
Jamie Mitchell:
Welcome friends. It’s a special edition of Stand In the Gap today. I guess I say that every Tuesday because anytime I get a chance to be with you, it’s a special day. I’m Jamie Mitchell and we find ourselves in the middle of October, which means it’s Pastor Appreciation Month. I hope that you’ve done something to show love to your shepherd today. It’s all about that. We want to care for your shepherds and give you some practical things to help them. We’re going to have two special guests today, and we’re going to look at two things, how to practically care for them and how to personally care for the pastor in your life. To help me, I’ve recruited two of my friends who love pastors have given themselves to serve and lift up ministers of the gospel. In our third and final segment, a return guest, Lou Huesmann from Pastor Serve a Ministry dedicated to coach and counsel pastors. He’ll join me later, but I’ve asked the person to weigh in on the practical end, and that’s first up is Keely Rule, who is the managing partner of Simplicity Guardian Group. They work with financial needs of ministers. Keely, welcome to Stand in the Gap today.
Keely Rule:
Awesome. Thank you so much, Jamie. It’s a privilege to be here with you today. It is an honor, so proud to be here with you.
Jamie Mitchell:
Keely, I have heard that of all the pressure points in a pastor’s life, finances ranks up in the top two or three and maybe even one. You work with literally hundreds pastors regarding retirement and the handling of their money. Is that true? Do pastors worry about their finances and if so, why is that?
Keely Rule:
Absolutely. It’s true, Jamie, and not do they only worry about their finances, but they stress about it. It is a point of a lot of stress and contention in a pastor’s life, and I’ll draw your attention to some recent studies that have been done. One of them in particular that was actually commissioned by another great financial institution, Guidestone, who provides also financial services for ministers, but they worked with Gray Matters research in 2024 to do a study and they questioned over 5,000, 5,000 ministers in that study and found that over 80% of pastors sometimes sacrificed their own wellbeing in ministry and more than half of them admit that they sacrifice their own family’s wellbeing. That study went on to reveal that when it comes to areas of minister’s wellness, that at 32% finances named as the number one struggle, and that came in above physical wellness, mental wellness, and believe it or not, even spiritual and relational wellness.
And so it is definitely a major, major issue. The study additionally went on to show that nearly 48% of pastors have less than $5,000 in non-retirement savings. One third have paused or reduced retirement contributions in order to handle emergencies, and almost 50% have taken on debt in the last couple of years just to meet immediate needs. And we’re now thanks to a lot the rapid rise of inflation and debt over recent years. We’re looking at about a 70% of pastors carry non-mortgage debt averaging 43,000. And so yes, sir, I would say yes, pastors do often feel a lot of pressure, but a lot of them do confess that not being well-equipped in seminary and in college and in their early years in ministry as it relates of how to deal with their finances has indeed created a really almost an epidemic. Jamie, if you want to know the truth, a lot of it comes down to Go ahead.
Jamie Mitchell:
Well, and I was going to say that a lot of times they sit there in silence. They don’t really ever share because they feel bad that they have to talk about their financial pressures because the people who they have to tell are the people who are giving to the church to pay for their salary. Keely, if you can, can you share some very basics when it comes to finances that pastors should be doing in regards to their money? And I know that we have a lot more Pew sitters, the regular members of churches listening, but we’re trying to equip them till they can come alongside and help their pastor. But what are some basic things a pastors should have working for him and his finances?
Keely Rule:
Well, let’s start with just the simple basics, Jamie, even as it was revealed in that study that had just quoted the need for an emergency fund, you would be blown away to discover the number of pastors that simply are absolutely living paycheck to paycheck. And so even getting a thousand to $3,000 set aside to help give just a little bit of breathing room would be probably the first thing. The second thing I would say would be to start prioritizing retirement savings. And so many pastors have suspended their retirement contributions or while navigating compensation with their church boards initially simply left out retirement as being a part of their benefit. Prioritizing retirement savings, I would say would be up there at the top. And then maybe the third one I would say is taking a deep look at where they are at as it relates to debt.
Debt is such a major, major issue, not just with ministry but as in America as a whole. And so looking at and coming up with a plan to eliminate debt is really important. There’s some great resources out there as it relates to that, but getting help eliminating debt is so important. Clarity on compensation, I would say is another really important piece with that. Minister’s compensation is so complicated that they’re paid unlike anybody else. They’re taxed differently due to the fact that they’re considered a dual status employee. They’re responsible for both sides of the C and FICA as it relates to social security tax. Things like housing allowance are so complex and it’s really difficult for them to get nowhere to go to get good answers. And so clarity on compensation is so important. And then I’d say accountability and advocacy would top that list as well as things that would be really beneficial and helpful. So just about every article and research that is out when it comes to offering solutions to some of the things that ministers are struggling with and dealing with, it always boils down to that education finding and finding an advocate and knowing where to go to get help and get assistance and not being afraid to talk about it is the other thing.
Jamie Mitchell:
Wow, this is excellent and exactly what we want to accomplish today. I want both pastors and parishioners to gain insights on practical ways to help your pastor and to get his finances order when we come back. Keeley’s going to share mistakes that are made by pastors in handling their finances and how the church can aid their pastor. It’s Pastor Appreciation month here at Stand of the Gap. Well, welcome back. Today we’re talking about how to care for your pastor and Keeley rule from Simplicity. Guardian Financial Group is with us Keeley, as you have served pastors for years, you probably have discovered some common mistakes that pastors and churches make regarding money and specifically compensation, those kinds of things. But specifically, what are those mistakes? Could you inform us and kind of warn us about those things?
Keely Rule:
Yes, sir. Jamie, absolutely. I’ll tell you, if you ask the experts, they would put it, narrow it down to four. I’d be putting off those tough financial conversations, treating retirement benefits or an emergency aid as a feature instead of an expectation, lack of clarity around compensation. And the fourth one would be isolation or lack of an advocate. But Jamie, as my group myself, have worked now with over 3000 pastor clients across the country over the last 13 years. We currently serve about 800 churches. We actually have narrowed it down a little bit further to a more practical list. As a matter of fact, we do a minister’s workshop probably 30 or 40 times throughout the year on this exact topic, the three money mistakes that ministers make. And so what we have seen is that one of the biggest mistakes that ministers make is opting out of social security.
So ministers have the ability to opt out of social security typically, there’s some rules around that, but most of them it’s by becoming a conscientious objector to public forms of insurance. Most of them had no idea what they were signing when they did that. They were just told by somebody in the church finance department that they could save 15.3% on taxes by signing that and by doing so, so many pastors opted out and gave up their social security benefit. And many of them additionally because of the conscientious objector form says all public forms of insurance quite possibly also gave up Medicare and disability benefits as well. So I’d say practical standpoint, that’s one of the biggest mistakes that we see. The other one would be not understanding housing allowance. Housing allowance is a tax provision. It’s found in IRS code 1 0 7 1 and 1 0 7 2 that lays out the rules around housing allowance, which can be a great advantage to a minister that they should be capitalizing on.
And then the third one would be not using the right type of tax protected retirement or savings plan. So it’s really mind blowing to come across the number of pastors and church leaders in general that have no idea that there is a specific retirement plan out there that is designated for religious nonprofits that employ licensed, ordained or commissioned to ministers called a 4 0 3 B nine. That 4 0 3 B nine would allow a credentialed minister to put money away, tax free for it to grow tax free as a qualified retirement plan, and then in retirement take a distribution from their account for housing expenses and have the possibility of avoiding taxes on it there. I’d say that’s the third biggest mistake is not understanding that that exists and then how to put all those pieces together, how to maximize those particular advantages and privileges, not in an abusive way, but just in a way to actually benefit from ’em and help their families.
Jamie Mitchell:
Kelly, I’m going to add one more to you. So if you want to rework your workshop, I’ll add one more, and that is waiting too long and not getting started early in putting money away for your retirement. I can tell you talking to a lot of pastors that sometimes pastors wait until they’re late in their forties or in their fifties, and the problem with that is they’re going to run out of runway, they’re going to run out of time. And what they really want to do is when they’re in their twenties, start putting away something, let compound interest work for them. But boy, that’s probably the greatest lesson I learned in just general finances of all people, and that is they got to start early, don’t they?
Keely Rule:
Yes, absolutely. I’m so glad you brought that up. When you’re done with radio, please reach out to me, Jamie, because it is, we need to preach exactly that message right there. You have got to start something, even if you’re doing it wrong, start something early. Allow that law of compound interest to go to work. And like I said earlier, make retirement benefit an expectation. It’s got to be part of what you do from the beginning. It is really sad to see the number of ministers that didn’t do that, whether it was because they thought the Lord was coming back in 1988, and so they didn’t figure there was any need to prepare or maybe thought that social security wasn’t going to be around in the future, whatever it may be. And so yes, sir, we do. We see so many of ’em that simply didn’t do anything, and it has created a very difficult situation. So yes, sir. Doing something and doing it early is really important.
Jamie Mitchell:
Keely, you got a whole bunch of deacons and trustees and elders and laypeople listening. They make up boards, their leadership teams. What do you need to say to a church board to help a pastor with their finances and with retirement? What word of encouragement? Because a pastor could have the desire to want to do something and put his financial house in order, but if the church doesn’t see the same thing or want to help or be cooperative, what’s the lay leader supposed to do?
Keely Rule:
I’m so glad you brought that up because it is such an important aspect of it all. You mentioned it even early on about how, but it’s difficult for a minister to have these conversations. They’re looking at individuals who are given of their hard earned dollars for them to simply be employed. And so it does make the conversation difficult, but I would say it is one of the most important things, and that’s why in so many of the articles and research that comes out that finding an advocate is so important. And typically that advocate should be either a parishioner or a board member or somebody on a compensation committee and that they do. There’s so many resources now that have become available to do compensation studies. There’s so many of ’em that’ll do it at no cost, including us. But to really set those clear and consistent compensation policies, making sure that they’re including housing allowance, that retirement benefits and other benefits is part of a compensation package.
Nobody that goes to work in the secular world goes to work without an expectation of having a retirement plan or having benefits as part of their package. We have to carry that into the church space as well. And so just working with boards and parishioners to make sure that they’re taking care of their pastor as it relates to those benefits, including retirement. And then just from within the community, the church community itself, we have to start promoting transparency as it relates to minister’s finances and minister’s compensation. So many of them are so worried about being conceived as preaching a prosperity gospel or being seen as being too successful. And so they internally struggle day in and day out. Where’s the balance in that, Jamie? What is too much? What is not enough? If because I’m comfortable and my needs are met, am I not given enough?
And so just opening up dialogue and having transparency about that and encouraging them to understand, Hey, you are worthy of your hire. And that’s one of the things as parishioners and church boards, they got to understand a minister is worthy of his hire. You see so many of them, it’s like they’re the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation in a lot of places. They are running that and we expect them to do it for little or nothing so often. And it’s not just the minister, it’s the church staff as well that I’m very passionate about. But opening and promoting the just openness about the topics, really, really important.
Jamie Mitchell:
Keely, I don’t want this time to slip away without you giving a word because you would love to come alongside of a board and help them. How can they find out about Simplicity Guardian Group and get some information and maybe reach out to you and see if you and your people can help them?
Keely Rule:
Oh, that’s so good. I appreciate that opportunity. Let me just tell you, this is absolutely what is near and dear to my heart, both for Simplicity Guardian and the nonprofit Guardian Promises to come alongside. We were looking at launching it as the Paraclete project a while back, which simply means one who comes alongside. And that’s the way that we look at ourselves is just to come alongside and be a resource to what the local pastor and local church staff is doing. And so we help navigate all of those conversations. We will go to work on behalf of your pastor as it relates to helping him have those conversations with this board, and we can be reached@simplicityguardian.com. That’s simplicity guardian.com or 2 1 4 5 0 1 1 4 0 0. Again, 2 1 4 5 0 1 1 4 0 0. We’d love to just come alongside what they’re doing and help them be better empowered to reach their community
Jamie Mitchell:
Care for your pastor. You’re going to make sure the weight of financial concern is lifted. Reach out to the Simplicity Group and Keeley’s team. They want to help. When we return, Lou Huesmann joins with me and we start looking at the personal issues facing a pastor and his family and how you can help them. It’s all about caring for our shepherds today here. Let’s stand in the gap today. Well, thank you so much for caring enough for your pastors that you’ll continue to listen to this very special program about just that caring for our shepherds. They care for us and especially during this month, pastor Appreciation month, we try to do some extra things. Joining me is a return guest, Lou Huesmann from Pastor Serve. Welcome back Lou, thanks so much for being part of this special program.
Lou Huesmann:
Thanks, Jamie. It’s good to be back with you.
Jamie Mitchell:
Lou, there are a few topics I want you to weigh in on regarding some personal issues in pastor’s lives. As someone who spends his weeks counseling and coaching pastors and helping churches in crisis, you have firsthand knowledge on how to show care and concern for our pastors. First issue I want you to touch on is how can we, the person in the pew, the congregant, how can we care for a pastor in regards to his family life?
Lou Huesmann:
Yeah, I appreciate the question. It’s so important. I want to preface my observations with a personal note that while I’m currently involved in a ministry to pastors and ministry leaders and churches, much of what I’ll say comes from reflecting on my own 40 years of pastoral ministry and wishing that some of these things would’ve been true for me. So when it comes to the family, I think I would begin with the board and key leaders who need to express the family as a high priority value. They need to hold this as a value, and they need to communicate to the pastor that his family is his priority ministry because how he relates to the family will spill over into how he relates to the church family. Of course, we know what Paul says in one Timothy three, five, where he connects family with the church as a qualification for overseers and elders.
So I would begin there with it. It has to be a value that is articulated as a high priority, and the pastor knows that the board and the key leaders really believe in that. And then I would say they need to make it possible for the pastor to be successful in this. How might that work out? Well, they need to clarify expectations. The pastor needs to clarify his expectations. They need to clarify their expectations. In other words, what’s expected of a pastor? And many pastors, especially the ones that I deal with and my own background, many pastors are guilty of over-functioning. I think that’s most pastors are people who tend to over-function. Now why is that? Because from my observation, they picked this up in life. It could come from their own family. But there’s other reasons too. Over-functioning is often a way of proving their own value, their own worth, and then they can over-function because it’s part of their identity.
They say, well, I’m needed. People depend on me, so therefore I have to be involved in this. I have to have my fingers and all this. I have to work those extra hours. I have to work seven days a week. And so what happens over time is that that can really sabotage the family system. And here’s why. Because overfunctioners need under functions. If you’re going to over function, that means some other people have to basically under function. And the result is the body of Christ ends up being malformed. So the pastor’s over-functioning is costing him in his marriage and in his family, the body of Christ is malformed because he’s doing more than what he really should be. So that leads me to then observing that I really think the church can help the pastor by narrowing the roles that a pastor has too many leads to burnout.
And of course, burnout affects the family. So I think that’s helpful to annually evaluate the pastor to have a time with the pastor, a conversation about his salary, about his time off. Does he have regular rhythms, weekly, monthly, and vacation that I think that a pastor should have vacation in at least a two week block of time because otherwise it’s not restful. And then finally, I would say one of the things you can do, it’s so obvious, is to ask the pastor and the spouse how you can support them in ministry. Be curious. I mean, one of the things that’s so obvious at times is that that conversation that never takes place between the pastor, his spouse, and the board or the key leaders. So those are some initial thoughts on how to really support the pastor in his family goals.
Jamie Mitchell:
Lou, only one time in my 40 years as a pastor did I ever have a board member or a key leader ever come to Chris and I and not ask Chris, so how is he doing at home? But they asked it this way, what could we do to help your home? Only one time did I ever have that kind of ask by a key leader. It’s fascinating. Luke, while we’re discussing relationships, I have found that pastors are lonely and isolated people. I’ve experienced my own loneliness and isolation and it wasn’t good. They need friends at some level. How can we help them either find genuine friends or what are some, as you use the term reasonable expectations for friendship? And how would you ask a congregant to encourage their pastor about friendship?
Lou Huesmann:
Yeah, when you talk about friendship, it seems like it should be so obvious, but I don’t think it really is when you stop and you really pull it apart, if it were so obvious, we would all be having lots of friends and really life transforming friendships. And like you said, you found yourself to be lonely. I certainly did. In pastoral ministry, you’re surrounded by all these people who are willing to tell you what a great job you’re doing in preaching, et cetera, et cetera. And yet you go home and you feel so lonely that Does anybody really know me? And you can feel so isolated. So let me begin here, Jamie, with something that someone pointed out to me that there are at least three types of friendship. But first of all, there’s the friendship of utility. That’s one that’s useful. So for example, playing on the same softball team, you need all those players to be able to play, and you end up enjoying that because you’re fielding a team.
So a friendship of utility. Secondly, a friendship of pleasure, and that’s where you enjoy things together. Maybe you enjoy fishing together or something that riding a bike or working out friendship of pleasure. But the final category of friendship is very rare. It’s the friendship of character. And that raises the question, who do I want to become like and therefore I spend my time around them? So what is reasonable when it comes to friendship? I think one of the big questions is who is safe and safety is tied to vulnerability. Can I be myself to this person or do I have to play this role? Do they only see me as a pastor and do I always have to have that pastor hat on? So it means that pastors will often need to find friendships outside their local church to be quite honest, the risk often is just too high inside.
If you share something, will that go to somebody else? Will it get to the board? If you say, I’m discouraged right now in my marriage, well, will that ignite somebody to go to talk about it again, the board plays a role. I think they can ask some questions like this. Are you investing in a friendship? Who is investing in you? What kind of friendships do you have? Just because you hang out to watch an NFL football game together doesn’t mean that these are real friends. So again, we come back to expectations. I think it’s very important to articulate expectations in the conversation between the pastor, his spouse, and the board, or key leaders. And here’s one of the expectations that I’ve clarified. Don’t expect the pastor and his spouse to be your best friends simply because you’d like them to be or because you invite them into your home.
You really need to give them the freedom to choose their friendships. I’ll never forget coming into a church and a woman wanted her husband to be my best friend and wanted me to be his best friend. And it was so clear from the outset that this was kind of a dating setup between me and this guy, and it just didn’t work out because I’m an adult and I don’t need people to set me up for friendships. So those expectations are really important. And then I’d also add to this, this is where a coaching relationship can be so helpful because a coaching relationship can provide both safety and a trusted friendship over time. I have been meeting with some pastors for two, three years and have watched real transformation place in part because there has been a friendship that has developed and there’s trust associated with that. And so I think that’s what is so key as well. You can get a coach outside of your church to really walk with you to develop that kind of a friendship that can be so deeply spiritually transformative.
Jamie Mitchell:
Lou, if I can weigh in, I think there’s a word that people in the church need to hold onto when they look at their pastor, and that is the word assume. I think people in the church assume certain things like you’re having a Super Bowl party. Oh, the pastor must have plenty of people who they’re going over to a Super Bowl party, and the fact of the matter is they’re sitting home alone because nobody has asked them. And so I think it would be, at least from my experience, that sometimes people in the church just assume the family’s being taken care of or assume that they have some relationships or people are pouring into them. And so I think we have to be really careful never to assume everything is okay with your pastor. Well, folks, there you go. Two ways that you can personally support and encourage your shepherds, help them flourish at home and encourage them to get some friends.
Don’t expect to be their best friend, but make sure they have these vital relationships. We come back. Lou’s going to weigh in on two more issues where pastors I believe need their help. One is fatigue and rest and taking care of their health and then their own spiritual lives. Two vital areas where we can come alongside and personally help your pastors. We’re talking about it here today. I’m standing the gap today. Well, the clock is always our enemy, especially when we discuss a number of really important issues. And our program never seems enough. Lou Huesmann from Pastor Serve is giving us insights on how to encourage our pastors and shepherds and the personal things in their lives. We’ve already touched on family and friendship, and so let’s keep the F thing going. Good alliteration for pastors. Lou. Many pastors tell me they live in a state of constant exhaustion, and that’s not healthy. Fatigue is a real thing. Any word of encouragement on how we can help our pastor find some rest and take care of themselves physically?
Lou Huesmann:
Yeah, that’s a great question, Jamie. The level of fatigue is real and it’s not simply resolved with a nap or a week of vacation. It’s cumulative. That’s a key piece. It’s cumulative and builds over time. That’s why it can lead to burnout. What does burnout? It’s physical and emotional fatigue. The signs of burnout or a lack of motivation, lack of energy, focus, joy, where a pastor can just have emotional emptiness. He can still get up and preach on a Sunday morning, but his emotions are just not there. And some of the sources of that are just over time, there’s vocational disappointment. The pastoral ministry is just not what he thought it was going to be. And he’s basically just taken on a lot of hits along the way and people have expressed a disappointment with him and he’s disappointed in what he’s doing. He thinks that maybe God is disappointed with him as well.
There can also be relational injuries where just people have been mean internalized expectations, his own expectations that have become internalized, that are his own enemies as well. And just dysregulated emotions. When you’re tired, your emotions can get really out of whack. And chronic fatigue can be something can really, really dysregulate you. So again, in terms of doing something about it, I think a board or people, a friend can check for over-functioning. Again, is this person over-functioning? And one of the diagnostic questions that can be helpful is that in what areas of life are you feeling overwhelmed by? Should, in what areas of life are you feeling overwhelmed by shoulds? That’s a question that engages your self-awareness. Are you aware of how much you’re doing things out of some sense of obligation? Another question. What one thing could you say no to this week to make space for something that brings you life and joy?
And I think this is where coaching can really help here because it draws out, whereas mentoring pours in. But this all comes back to, again, to a reminder that it doesn’t all depend on you. And every pastor needs to know that and be reminded of that. So he needs to adjust his life to reflect that reality. I think another thing I would slip in here is to be aware of vicarious trauma you’re exposed to and carry the trauma of others. That’s why it’s called vicarious trauma. And that accumulates. So you need to be aware of seasons in which this is very heavy. It can be taken towards fatigue. Well, a regular Sabbath, and by that I mean weekly rhythm of rest. Is the pastor taking some time away every week? Does the pastor have a monthly day away? And that’s important as well. Again, as I said previously, I think one thing that’s really helpful is to stack the vacation and then do a quarterly spiritual retreat.
Another idea that I have carried with me all my life is to be a lifelong learner, to be very purposeful about this. Seminars, online courses, books, live cohorts. You need to stay fresh and it causes you to be curious and to realize there’s so much of life that’s beyond just your ministry and beyond the local church. And then take a sabbatical and that takes at least a month to wind down and then you wind back up in the final month. So you need at least three months for a good sabbatical. And then coaching counseling can be crucial in this process as well. So that’s what I would say.
Jamie Mitchell:
It’s so important. I recently went to a pastor’s conference and I didn’t have anything else to do, but to talk with people and sit there and take in. And even though it was a busy week and there were a lot of sessions and you were up early in the morning, went late, I walked away refreshed because I got poured into Lou the last few minutes here. Let’s talk about faith. We’re talking about assumptions. We can never assume that spiritually a pastor is where they need to be. What one or two things can the church do to spur them on and stir them on and help them in their walk with the Lord?
Lou Huesmann:
Yeah, and I so appreciate the way you phrased that because in Pastor Serve, we talk about pastors having a front stage and a backstage. And the front stage is what gets the energy, the attention, because it gets applause, it gets noticed, it gets a claim. And it’s the backstage that when it’s neglected, ends up blowing up. And then people say, well, we never saw that coming. Whoa, I wish we would’ve known this. And that’s why you have to pay attention to the backstage, and that’s part of the faith conversation. And it’s just so easy to have a spirituality that’s connected to sermon preparation or the role you play as a pastor and to miss out on the fact that we are called just as everyone is in the body of Christ, to live in relationship to God through sharing in his life that is shared between the Father, son and Holy Spirit.
We’re invited into a relationship with the triune God. So how can you help your pastor? Well, here’s a couple ideas. Provide an expense account to nurture his soul, make sure that he can buy some books, go to retreats, get coaching, get the spiritual support that he needs. If you want him to be the kind of person that he needs to be, then you need to also resource him to make that happen and not just assume back to your word. Well, he’s a pastor, he went to seminary. He knows how to do that, and it has to be more than talk. You need to show the pastor that the church values his spiritual growth. That comes back to your illustration of the kind of questions they ask the pastor and his spouse. Do they meet with them and not ask kind of these accountability questions about when was the last time you sinned in whatever area you want to pick on, but to really talk with warmth about the pastor’s relationship to Jesus and what is he learning?
How is he growing? What is God showing him? How is he developing? Another very tangible way of supporting the pastor and his faith is to budget for guest speakers who will stimulate the pastor’s growth, not just be pulpit supply. So not just pulpit supply when the pastor’s gone, but when the pastor is there. In my ministry over the years, I brought in top-notch authors, pastors, professors who would do a Saturday seminar for the entire congregation and then stay on Sunday and speak on Sunday. So it gave me a chance to be off the entire weekend to receive through a seminar and to be refreshed. So it’s also about creating a culture of receiving from the God who loves us and gives to us out of his grace versus a culture of performance. And our American culture is so dialed into performance, but can we create a culture that is not performance so the pastor can relate to people and to God in a healthy way?
Jamie Mitchell:
Lou, before time slips away, how can our people find out about pastors serve? If their pastor needs help or their church needs help, where can they find you?
Lou Huesmann:
Yeah, thanks so much, Jamie. Just pastor serve.org. Very easy on the internet and there’s phone numbers on there to be able to call, but just pastor serve.org.
Jamie Mitchell:
Well, we have heard much today and there’s much more we could touch on. We’ve find out some ways to help you as people to encourage and love on your pastors. Special thanks to Lou Usman Keeley rule and the good work they do serving pastors friends, it takes initiative and intentionality to show concern for your pastor. To do that, you’re going to need some courage. So live and lead with courage for your pastor’s sake, until tomorrow, God bless you. Have a great day. Thanks for listening to Stand in the Gap Today.
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