WEEK OF PRAYER FOR HAYWOOD BAPTIST ASSOCIATION: Praying for Pastors

Recently, I was touched by a Facebook post from one of our Haywood Baptist pastors, Tracy Smith. He was speaking of the discouragement he was feeling as a pastor of a smaller congregation. I got the feeling that he felt isolated and forgotten. All pastors struggle. Been there, done that. For most of 50 years, I have pastored churches—in the country and in the city, both small and large. Each faced challenges and presented opportunities. Sometimes, I was ready to quit. A few times, there were members who wanted me to do so! In one church, there was a public, organized effort to fire me. That is crushing, and without the Lord’s intervention—and the support of the majority of the membership—I could not have survived it.

I want us to pray for eight days beginning Sunday, May 17 through Sunday May 24, specifically for the well-being of our Pastors. You will find in this newsletter, a prayer guide to reproduce. Please print, share, and PRAY! It would be good if one of the lay leaders would promote this, rather than the pastor. Set aside a time in the worship services to gather around your pastor and pray for him!

My plan is to have a breakfast for the bivocational pastors on Saturday, May 30 at 9 AM, at the Associational Office. It will be a time for me to hear from these men: to share their struggles, hear their concerns, encourage one another by testimony of what God is doing, and seek ways the Association can help. We will try to keep the meeting as brief as possible (maybe an hour and a half) because we know time is at a premium. I would like for this to become a quarterly gathering.

Yours for Pastoral Wellness,

Dennis Thurman, Mission Strategist