It may seem obvious, but you are not the saviour of the church; Jesus is. That truth should set you free. The church does not depend on you, but on Jesus. The church does not depend on your ministry, but on Jesus. The work does not stand or fall on you, but on Jesus. Be freed by that. You can only do what you can do and you only must do what Jesus has actually said you must do, not what tradition, culture or people’s general expectations (or, indeed, your own unrealistic expectations) say you must.

April 1 marked ten years of my being pastor at Oldham Bethel Church. Let’s quickly get over the fact that, yes, I started on April Fool’s Day. You can decide for yourself whether the bigger joke was played on me or by me. But ten years feels like the shortest long amount of time worth looking back and seeing what’s what. I don’t think ten years is all that long in the grand scheme of things. But it is the shortest long time that feels like a reasonable amount of time to have been in the same place, doing the same thing and that one might have learnt one or two things worth knowing over that period. So, I thought I might just share some of the things I have learnt. Some are bigger than others, some more or less significant, but they are things I know now and either didn’t know before or didn’t fully appreciate (and maybe I still don’t). But in no particular order, here are some things:

People Leave and This Is Normal

One thing that few people prepare you for before you begin your pastorate is that people will leave your church. I don’t know a single pastor that hasn’t had people leave their church. People leave for a variety of reasons, many perfectly legitimate, some perhaps less so. But even the best pastor in the world will have people leave on them both for legitimate and perfectly understandable reasons but also for less legitimate reasons and will have had fingers pointed in their direction as the fundamental reason why. People leaving is normal and is something we simply have to accept as a fact of ministry.

People Leaving Is Always Sad

The other thing about people leaving is it is always sad. If they are leaving for legitimate reasons, you will find it sad that good people, friends whom you love, are moving on. It isn’t necessarily hurtful when it happens, but it is sad nonetheless, even when it is for legitimate reasons and with every blessing from the church. Others leaving badly will make you sad because they cause so much pain, either to you personally or to the church at large. It is always sad when people leave and there is rarely much you can do to insulate yourself from it.

The Church Is Its People Who Are Its Best Resource

Indeed, the church is its people which means its people are its best resource. That doesn’t mean they are a resource to be exploited. Simply to say, the church is at its best when its resources are all working towards gospel ends. When each part of the body is freed up to serve in the particular ways in which God has gifted them to serve the church will be at its strongest.

Don’t Overestimate What You Can Do in a Year; Don’t Underestimate What You Can Do in Five

Somebody said this to me when I first started in the role and I think it has been seen to be true. There are lots of things we may want to do. Lots of things we might feel are worthwhile. But change will often happen in increments and change will often come when new folks show up and get stuck in too. It takes time to instil cultural change and it takes time to either win people to whatever needs to happen or to sift those who will not be won and feel they would be better served elsewhere. These things all take time. There is a limit to what might be achieved in a year, but over five years the change in a church can be enormous in a number of ways.

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