In Preaching Articles: "Pastoral Care"

5 Pastoral Emergencies That Aren’t Emergencies

By Carey Nieuwhof on May 17, 2024

"If you’ve been in ministry for any length of time, you know the challenge of trying to move the mission forward and handle the pastoral needs of a congregation at the same time. One of the most perplexing problems pastors and church leaders face is how to handle ‘pastoral emergencies’—the crises that come up in the lives of people that they look to you to help solve."

Tags: resolving conflict, Time Management, crisis response, conflict management, pastoral leadership, questions, Pastoral Ministry, avoiding burnout  (view more)  (view less)

Sorry, Pastors – The Growth Of The Church Is Not Up To Us

By Karl Vaters on Jun 4, 2024

"Preaching the Word, training disciples and ministering to the community may or may not increase the number of people who sit in front of me from Sunday to Sunday. But it will produce a healthy church."

Tags: pastoral leadership, call to discipleship, church leadership, Church Growth, Surrender, Healthy Church, God's Church, God in control  (view more)  (view less)

The Most Significant Thing A Pastor Will Ever Do

By Joe Mckeever on Jul 8, 2024

The most valuable ministry thing you have done just may be the time you stopped to encourage a homeless man and bought him lunch.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, 1 Corinthians 4:3-4

Tags: servant leadership, church leadership, Faithfulness, priorities, Servanthood, Christian Love, Godly Leaders, pastoral leadership  (view more)  (view less)

The Dumbest Thing I Ever Did As A Pastor

By Charles Stone on Oct 17, 2024

What's the dumbest mistake you've every made as a pastor?

Tags: mistakes, Pastoral Ministry

Communicating With Confidence When People Distrust Pastors

By Ed Stetzer on Apr 19, 2024

This article is the fifth of six in a series on preaching in light of cultural shifts and biblical illiteracy.

Tags: preaching, teaching, holiness, Sermon prep, Preaching, pastor, Holiness, sermon prep, Pastor, Sermon Prep, Teaching  (view more)  (view less)

Fully Known, Fully Loved

By Peter Mead on Feb 23, 2022

If we are not careful we can paint our own self-at-the-centre approach in the colors of Christianity and assume all is well.

Scripture: Romans 5:8, Luke 19:10

Tags: known by God, Fully Known, Fully loved, narcissism

The True Task Of Every Preacher

By Nathan Aaseng on Oct 16, 2020

Author Nathan Aaseng says, "Preaching is a terrible form of communication." Yet he discovered why preaching is the crown jewel of a pastor's existence.

Tags: Task, Communication, Preaching, pastor, Pastor  (view more)  (view less)

Preaching: It's Not All About You

By Bruce D. Johnson on Oct 13, 2024

Over the past five decades, an insidious trend has crept into American preaching--and not only are most pastors unaware of it, they've embraced it!

Tags: Pastor, preaching, Preaching, pastor, Self  (view more)  (view less)

Grace Is A Divine Scandal, And That's How You Should Preach It

By Ray Hollenbach on Dec 9, 2024

Grace can be abused, grace can be played the fool, grace can be wasted--but grace doesn't care. Grace is the divine scandal.

Scripture: Galatians 2:21

Tags: Preaching, preaching

8 Easy Ways To Plan Now For New Vbs Families To Stick

By SermonCentral .com on Dec 7, 2021

In my experience, churches put on a stellar VBS and just hope that the fourth goal of retaining new families from the community will take care of itself.

Tags: Unchurched, VBS, families, relational leaders, Outreach  (view more)  (view less)

Thom Rainer: Ten Signs A Pastor Is Becoming A Chaplain

By SermonCentral on Jul 1, 2019

How do you strike the balance between ministering to people's needs or equipping the folk?

Scripture: Philippians 1:1

Tags: Preaching, preaching

6 Reasons Why Longer-Tenured Pastors Are Better

By SermonCentral .com on Feb 17, 2026

“I wish I had stayed.” -- I’ve heard that sentence from many pastors.

Tags: Preaching, preaching

7 Things Pastors Don't Need To Know

By Ron Edmondson on Aug 2, 2024

As a pastor, I’ve learned there are plenty of people willing to tell me things I would never hear if I wasn’t the pastor. Sometimes I need to know...sometimes I don’t.

Tags: Pastors, Gossip, Christian Values

Preaching On The Run: 7 Tips For Bi-Vocational Pastors

By Todd Hiestand on May 17, 2020

"My sermon prep is no longer about how many hours I 'spend studying.' With this approach, I genuinely believe that every hour of the week is sermon prep."

Tags: Preaching, preaching

Ed Stetzer: Do Pastors Really Hate The Ministry?

By Ed Stetzer on Mar 26, 2025

Ed Stetzer shares insights from a new study that reveals what pastors really think about the ministry.

Tags: Preaching, preaching