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Practices of a healthy and flourishing pastor

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Kurt in Hopes for the Church No Comments
Home» Hopes for the Church » Practices of a healthy and flourishing pastor

A friend of mine, recently graduated from Fuller, is involved in his first pastoral assignment. He asked what practices help one to be a healthy and flourishing pastor.  Here is my list. What should be added?

  1. Practice Sabbath—make one day a week different.
  2. Be sure to take good time off—daily, weekly, monthly, annually.
  3. Eat well; get lots of sleep; exercise.
  4. Spend regular time in Scripture and prayer.
  5. Worship and be in community with God’s people.
  6. Develop good spiritual practices and experiments.
  7. Keep your family and friends a priority.
  8. Don’t place expectations on a spouse or children.
  9. Don’t compare yourself or your ministry to others.
  10. You are a person loved by God before you are a title, a set of degrees or a job.
  11. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
  12. Don’t believe what others say about you—good or bad.
  13. Surround yourself with good people who will be honest with you.
  14. Listen to, and share with trusted family and friends.
  15. Find a mentor; be a mentor.
  16. Laugh a lot.
  17. Strive to work well with others.
  18. Show respect to others.
  19. Remember, you aren’t as important as you think you are.
  20. Realize that leading is difficult, that change is hard, and you will always have critics.
  21. Avoid celebrity status.
  22. Don’t get caught up in degrees and titles.
  23. Practice humility.
  24. Don’t complain about your congregation.
  25. Slow down and be patient.  Good change takes time.
  26. Be still and know that God is God—live in that place
  27. Never stop learning—read, and study
  28. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, to wonder, even to doubt.
  29. Listen to and learn from voices different from yours.
  30. Spend time exercising the other side of your brain.
  31. Spend time in God’s creation.
  32. Read  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson, and Dallas Willard.
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