Series
Ordinary Pastors
A Pastor Nourishes Our Roots in Christ
I was saved by God when I was about 21 years old, back in 1992. Up until that time I was a devout atheist. When I was first saved God gave me a thirst for his word, the Bible. But it was not until years later, 2000 to be exact, that I came to a church whose pastor would give me something more. Before I came to Reformed Presbyterian Church of Boothwyn, Pennsylvania (RPCB), the church where Dwight Dunn pastored, I was spiritually fed by televangelists and loose-teaching local churches. When I came to RPCB I discovered a depth of...
God Trains His Servants By Breaking Their Hearts
James (Jay) Harvey is senior pastor of Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Newark, Delaware, and it’s an honor to serve under and alongside him. Recently, he’s been showing our church—as much by his example as by his words—how to suffer well. I was brand new to Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, when our student body prayed for him in chapel. Their second child, their son Jacob, was born with cystic fibrosis. Years later when I came on staff to serve with him, I asked him about they dealt with what the Lord had given them in Jacob, and he responded...
The Multifunctional Pastor
One of the first things that my pastor, Steve Hussung, taught me when I became the college minister was to have death in mind from the beginning. As an energetic seminarian I thought I would spend a lifetime expositionally teaching whomever the Lord would bring my way. But as my pastor so profoundly pointed out, if I planned on taking years to walk through some of the more dense books, the opportunities and years begin to evaporate. I could conceivably have only one opportunity to teach on any particular text. Steve decided long ago that he would plant himself at...
Following God Wherever He Leads
Randy Pizzino is the pastor of All Nations Metro Church in Roanoke, Virginia. In August he celebrated his 42nd year in pastoral ministry. He spent most of those years as the pastor of Trinity Church, a congregation that he began with a few other families in 1981. After almost 30 years of faithful service at that church he felt that God was calling him to minister the gospel to the people in the inner city of Roanoke. So at a time when most pastors are planning their retirements, he left his salaried position at an established church and began to...
Our Worship Glorifies God
When thinking of an “ordinary pastor,” I look no further than a dear man who has been a pastor of the same local body of Christ for more years than I have been alive. His name is Pastor Leonard Schantz. Pastor Leonard has been the worship pastor (and for many years pastor of care) at Harmony Bible Church in Danville, Iowa, for nearly 31 years. My first memories of Pastor Leonard are from very early in my life when I attended yearly Christmas and Easter cantatas. We didn’t go to Harmony, but lots of folks from the surrounding community came...
In the World’s Eyes, A Dismal Failure
This is the story of an ordinary pastor who loved much. It’s also a story of sheep and wolves, of youthful idealism meeting the cynical establishment, of how the gospel affected both. When a fresh-faced, 29-year-old pastor arrived in a one-church town in rural Pennsylvania with his wife and small children, he came committing to live and die there. He came dedicating his life and energies, trusting God to care for him as he cared for them. What he came to was a flock living in fear of dominating personalities, leadership themselves too fearful to stand against the abuse, and...
‘Live Sent’
Every so often, a pastor faithfully injects himself into a life, putting fire to fuse, igniting the cannon that sends that life sailing on mission toward a far-off target. Pastor Danny Braga (pictured at right) is just such a pastor, and my life is just such a cannon ball. I met Dan when he introduced himself the day I was moving into the duplex next to him. He was seven months out from launching to Seattle to plant a church. I, on the other hand, was a struggling veteran of the Iraq war and jaded by my 1980s and 1990s Christian upbringing. It wasn’t long before my family...
Serving an Extraordinary God
Nick Jackson (pictured at right with his family) is first and foremost a servant of Christ. He is my pastor, mentor, brother, and friend. He is currently the senior pastor at Oakridge Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Michigan. I will start out writing about the incredible gifting of leadership this man has been given by God. When I read books about leadership such as Tim Witmer’s The Shepherd Leader or Bill Hybels’s Courageous Leadership, I am consistently blessed in seeing what I read on paper demonstrated by this man in real life. His leadership has not only affected me, but also...
Doctrine Comes to Life in Community
When Howard Davis came to Shreveport, Louisiana, with his wife, Melissa, directly out of seminary in 2002, they saw here a culture that was profoundly churched but radically in need of the gospel. At the time of his arrival, our congregation at Grace PCA was thrilled to have a fresh young pastor. It became immediately clear, however, that Howard was not content to simply shepherd from the pulpit, and to some, being engaged with the gospel on a level that shook them up was uncomfortable. Regardless, he was committed to loving these men and women by getting involved in their...
Be Encouraged: Introducing the Ordinary Pastors Project
'We often let the big ideas, the majestic vistas of salvation, the grand visions of God's work in the world, and the great opportunities for making an impact in the name of Jesus distract us from taking with gospel seriousness the unglamorous ordinary.' Eugene Peterson in Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ …
