Week’s Work: This week I developed a strategy of vital relationships that need to be cultivated as a pastor begins his ministry at a new church. I began the week by devoting Sunday and Monday for reading from the bibliography. I read 21 pages from The Emotionally Healthy Church, and 63 pages (including the introduction) from Leadership Beyond Reason, with a total of 3 hours. On Tuesday, I was able to devote a total of 2 hours in reading various articles concerning the importance of developing relationship with key members within a church. I also was able to collaborate with a colleague about the various people to seek out in a new pastorate. Pastor Harvey suggested I compose to lists that include key people within the church …show more content…
I also reflected upon Dr. Blakney’s admonishment for a pastor to continually build upon his relationship with his family. I was able to read 24 pages in The Emotionally Healthy Church. A total of 2 hours was devoted to the practicum. On Friday, I had a wonderful phone conversation, which lasted an hour, with a retired pastor from Iowa. He mentioned the importance of developing relationships with fellow pastors in the town where a pastor serves. Additionally, the conversation included the importance of building a strong relationship with the Holy Spirit and learning to hear his voice. I also spent about an hour collecting my thoughts and notes from the week and organizing my list of key relationships. And Saturday was a light day as I spent approximately an hour reflecting and writing this week’s journal entry.
Issues that arose: The main issue that arose this week was how many relationships a pastor needs to develop. I found it interesting that many articles and pastors highlighted the same key folks in the church and in the community. I greatly appreciated Dr. Blakney’s advice to remember the pastor’s family and to treat everyone fairly. A thought came to me that it is equally important for a pastor to seek out those folks that may have no or little influence. These folks often times are left out and fall between the