Author: Jayson Larson

‘The main thing you have to give God is a healthy you,’ Witt tells Equip Conference

FORT WORTH—In the course of ministry, church leaders will be called to lead through many difficult situations and, at times, difficult people. So who is the most difficult person to lead in the church?

Yourself.

That’s what Lance Witt—a pastor, author, and founder of Replenish Ministries—noted during his keynote address during the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Equip Conference Saturday at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. More than 1,800 people registered for the event.

For those looking to better lead themselves, Witt offered three pillars of a healthy soul:

Take personal responsibility

The key to maintaining a health soul begins with each individual person understanding they are solely responsible for the task. And that task is not beyond our ability, Witt said, quoting Deuteronomy 30:11.

“God says, ‘I have made this abundant, rich, fulfilling, fruitful life available to you, and it has nothing to do with your circumstances or the car you drive or where you live or the size of your ministry,’” Witt said.

Witt recalled a particularly busy and chaotic season of ministry, one in which he was not leading himself or his family well due to the demands of pastoring while on staff at Saddleback Church in California. Though he tried to convince his wife—and himself—that the frenetic pace was manageable because it was “just for a season,” she reminded him of a reality that he had failed to see: “There’s always a reason or a season why you can’t be who you’re supposed to be.”

Those words, spoken by his wife, helped him change his perspective and begin a journey to reprioritizing and reorganizing his life and ministry.

“I realized I was who I was because of the decisions that I was making,” Witt said, “and one of the best days of my life was the day that I began to own—be responsible—for the health of my soul.”

Identify the toxins that are poisoning your soul

“In order for us to live and lead from a healthy soul, we’re going to have to grow in our self-awareness,” Witt said. The most effective church leaders expend a tremendous amount of time and effort getting to know those to which they minister, but very little time understanding not only what is life-giving to themselves, but the things that drain their souls.

Character traits such as being driven, having ambition, and being a hard worker have a shadow side when not performed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Having a strong work ethic can become workaholism that pulls leaders away from their time with the Lord and their families. Ambition can transform doing all in the name of Jesus to doing all in the name of your own advancement.

Said Witt: “Some of the very things that people will applaud in your life are things that will wreck your soul.” Leaders who embrace the reality that they’re simultaneously broken and unconditionally loved by the Lord will find the need to perform or strive less and less necessary.

Integrate authentic spiritual practices

“Your highest calling is to love and pursue Jesus,” Witt said. “But if you’ve been leading in the church longer than a week, you know that it’s easy sometimes to let your work for God replace your being with God.”

Witt said church leaders hold the positions they do because they want to make God known. To continue to serve effectively, those leaders must continue to know Him themselves and grow in their own love for Jesus. Spiritual practices such as fasting, solitude, unhurried prayer, personal retreat, sabbath, and lingering over Scripture are critical in continuing to love Him deeper.

“Your church is not your life. Your family is not your life. Your ministry is certainly not your life. The Lord is your life,” Witt said. “… Self-care is not selfishness. It’s good stewardship. … The main thing you have to give God, the main thing you have to give your church or your ministry, is a healthy you.”

SWBTS will grant full scholarships to IMB missionaries

FORT WORTH—Calling it a “historic new initiative,” Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Adam W. Greenway announced in a video released today that beginning with the fall 2022 semester, the Fort Worth institution will provide a full tuition scholarship to all International Mission Board missionaries enrolled in the seminary’s master’s degrees and doctoral programs.

“Our mission is to penetrate the darkness of lostness around the globe with the light of the Gospel, and we are committed to lowering financial barriers to that service while providing the very best theological education to prepare you to live your calling for more faithful service,” Greenway said. “We believe that those of you who have given your lives to serving on the frontlines around the world are worthy of this type of investment on our part so that you may, indeed, fulfill your calling.”

Joined in the video by IMB President Paul H. Chitwood, Greenway also announced students who are current IMB applicants who have yet to receive appointments will have 100 percent of their tuition covered for a 36-hour Master of Theological Studies degree, which meets the mission board’s theological education requirements for missionary appointment.

Chitwood noted theological education is “one fundamental mark” required of IMB missionaries who serve on the mission field. He called Southwestern Seminary’s tuition announcement an “unprecedented step” as the institution makes “theological education more accessible and more affordable for those who are preparing to serve on the mission field as well as for those who are already serving on the mission field.”

Greenway said a “trained missionary force is a more effective missionary force,” while also noting the tuition scholarship “is made possible because of generous ministry partners who support Southwestern Seminary.”

Since its founding in 1908, Southwestern Seminary has trained more missionaries for service through the IMB than any other seminary in Southern Baptist history. Chitwood said the IMB has “sent many Southwesterners to the nations through the IMB” and through the new tuition scholarship he believes that “we’re about to send many more.”

Chitwood added, “I’m certain that this full tuition scholarship for IMB missionaries, and those in the appointment process, will result in more missionaries getting overseas with more training, more quickly, and more free of financial worries all for the purpose of them being more effective at getting the Gospel to more people.” He encouraged existing missionary personnel and candidates who are trying to meet the IMB’s theological education requirements to “take advantage of this historic opportunity” at Southwestern Seminary.

Greenway concluded with the affirmation that both Southwestern Seminary and the IMB “seek to send out the next generation of missionaries who will reach the world with the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ” through the “new partnership.”

Southwestern Seminary’s fall 2022 academic semester begins August 15.

More information about the tuition scholarship, and the application process to Southwestern Seminary, can be found at swbts.edu/imb.

NorthPointe Church celebrates as 15 are baptized in single day

BURLESON—Fifteen people were baptized at NorthPointe Church in one day (Sunday, August 7), and each one had a story of redemption to tell.

NorthPointe has experienced significant growth in the last two years, and it has already baptized 31 people this year. During this most recent baptismal celebration, NorthPointe had one of its highest attendances.

“Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ,” said Landon Dees, NorthPointe’s lead pastor. Dees started the ceremony by baptizing two elementary school sisters, Sophia and Anika Young, as well as Kody Grounds and Justin Cox.

Dees also had the opportunity to baptize one of his childhood friends, Josh Bridges. “He [has been] my friend since sixth grade—I’ve known him for 30 years, and it is an honor and privilege for me to baptize him, my friend and my brother in Christ,” Dees said, adding that Bridges has struggled with addiction but has been sober for seven years. Dees noted that Bridges is an example of how God can change people when they put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Said Bridges: “This morning I surrendered my life in faith and obedience to God. There’s nothing in this world that is able to stand against God. The evil may try, but when you put on the full armor of God and walk by faith, God promises that He will fight your battles. He will make a way when you don’t see a way. For almost 20 years I lived in a bottle. I was running from my hurts, fear, anxiety—it cost me absolutely everything. When I lost everything, I didn’t stop there, it only got darker. I spent another six years living in that darkness, lost. The man who baptized me today is the same man that has been there the whole time.”

Dees has been preaching a series of messages based on the book of Esther, recently sharing how the Lord took care of Mordechai and Esther. Dees encouraged the church by saying, “Today is a day of celebration. Look for the hand of God in every way. Celebrate the hand of God in everyday things. Christians, God will turn the table on the enemy. He will deliver us in the future to come.”

NorthPointe’s administration and students pastor, Jeremy Dooley, performed 10 of the baptisms. With tears of joy in his eyes, he was able to baptize his two sons, Ryne and Rayce. After addressing each child, telling them how much he loves them and how proud he was of them, Dooley said to his son, “I prayed for this day since before you were born, and I baptize you as your father, as my son, and as my brother in Christ, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Dooley baptized three sisters in Christ and sisters in life—Kaela, Delaney, and Emery Dickerson—who after affirming Jesus as their Lord decided to proclaim their faith and get baptized.

Their father, Dr. Travis Dickinson, a professor at Dallas Baptist University, author, and deacon at NorthPointe, said, “There’s perhaps no better sign of a healthy church than to see adults and teenagers getting baptized. It’s been such a joy to see this regularly at NorthPointe Church and it was especially joyful that our three daughters were part of that. [My wife] Shari and I have never pressured them to get baptized since we wanted it to be their decision to commit to follow Jesus with their lives. We wanted it to be a big moment, and it was.”

Dooley also baptized, Briar Vogelgesang, Michaela Baxter, Hudson Hall, Conway Mcain, and Anthony Lewis.

Because of NorthPointe’s consistent growth, church leaders are looking to expand their facilities. Dees asks that all pray that God would give the church clarity and provision as they look to expand their worship center and that they would remain diligent at sharing the gospel and discipling those who are saved.

Thou Art Sad! Get Thee a Wife (or Husband)!

Thou Art Sad! Get Thee a Wife!

Blame Shakespeare for the line, but I believe it’s true in nearly every case. It’s no coincidence that our troubled culture has also increasingly turned away from marriage, either by divorce or indefinitely delaying the decision.

You’ve likely heard the stats: married people are healthier, more stable in their jobs, make more money, and more successfully raise kids who don’t go to jail.

I’m not convinced that a generation has arisen that says “Never!” to marriage so much as “Maybe some day,” or “Sure, but what about the downside?” Let me comment on a few objections I’ve heard to the call to seek a lifelong mate.

Marriage will limit me

In terms of some unattainable absolute freedom, it will. So also will employment limit you, as will age, and success and failure. Consider the possibility that some limitation is good for you. Paul, a single guy, says, “Better to marry than to burn,” as he speaks of sexual immorality and lust. We may be a society that is turning against marriage, but we are not a people who have rejected lust. Understand, I’m speaking to believers here; we are obligated to care about personal holiness and also about the well-being of the people among whom we live. Those obligations limit us, too.

I’ve never seen a happy marriage

I understand the point, but it is an exaggeration, an excuse. I’ve seen some troubled marriages and miserable divorces, just as you have. But, if you don’t know any happy long-term marriages, expand your circle of acquaintance—maybe attend a multigenerational church or volunteer at a senior center. I’ve never seen a marriage turn happy, unselfish people into miserable wretches. Something else might do that, but don’t blame the fact that they committed to each other. Child of divorce: understand also that history is not fate. The mistakes of your parents are not necessarily your mistakes.

I’m not ready

No, you’re not. None of us is prepared for such a life-changing relationship. But you can be more ready than you are. Some will think of saving some money or paying off student loans—fine goals—but I’m talking about maturity, spiritual disciplines, and character development that prepare you to love someone else unselfishly. No one has arrived at that point perfectly, so I’m safe in saying you’ll be a better spouse if you move toward Christlikeness. Again, a good church will be essential in this work.

The right one has not come along

I must apologize: my generation taught its kids some really stupid things about love. We’ve written 10,000 sappy songs and bad poems and vacuous screenplays that portray a life that no one can happily live. One song lyric of my era says, “It’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along.” Again, I apologize. The fact is, people in small towns and tiny churches have found happiness with people they meet in those very small ponds. Being connected with family helps, as does being involved in a church. The one you marry becomes the “right one” when you commit to love her for the rest of your life. It really is that simple.

A couple of observations about these as a whole. First, plug in “find a job” or “pick a major” and you’ll have some of the same objections. But serious people do find jobs and serious students eventually get a degree in something. The pressure to make a living results in employment—it’s good that way. Consider that loneliness, imagined in middle age or realized at this stage of life, may be the natural impetus to move a person toward marriage, and maybe toward becoming marriageable material. Maybe loneliness is not as crucial to you in this moment as hunger, but there may be a day in which it is more important to you. Ask someone in a marriage that has lasted 30, 40, even 50 years. These veterans can tell you of the difficulties and benefits of marriage. They have also been at it long enough to tell you the downside to maturing alone.

I’m prompted to write this column on the occasion of my 46^th wedding anniversary. We married the first Saturday of August and have met many couples who married on that day, if not that date. Someone with my experience can tell you some hair-raising and heartwarming tales of keeping a long-term commitment. We probably shouldn’t do that, except to say that it is possible and it is life-giving, even as it requires all that you have to give.

I am convinced, more than I was in 1976, that this is the path of happiness and joy for nearly everyone. I’m convinced that it is the path for fulfilment for far more of you than have yet embarked on it. Get thee a wife (or husband); this is a goal worth pursuing more diligently than finding a job or a place to live. Jobs come and go, and so do domiciles—those things will never love you for the rest of your life.

SBTC announces partnership with Nevada Baptist Convention

GRAPEVINE—Underscoring the cooperative work that is hallmark among Southern Baptists, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention announced Tuesday that it has entered into a multiyear ministry partnership with the Nevada Baptist Convention.

The partnership, SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick said, will provide financial support and various resources to help Southern Baptists in Nevada strengthen existing churches, plant new churches, reach the lost, and develop leaders.

In July, the SBTC Executive Committee approved funding of up to $150,000 to be disbursed to the Nevada Baptist Convention in three annual installments of up to $50,000 each beginning this year. A fourth installment may also be given with Executive Committee approval.

“We are excited about [this partnership] and ready to get going with them,” Lorick said. “We want to give them full access to what we do, tell them to take any resources we’ve printed or created and use them in their own context and brand it as if it’s their own, give them backstage access to our events … and say to them, ‘What we have is yours.’”

Damian Cirincione, executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention, told the SBTC Executive Board on Tuesday that Nevada is the 5th-fastest-growing state in the nation with a population of 3.1 million people—2.2 million of which live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Even so, there is great need to encourage and equip churches in all areas of the state, he said.

Cirincione noted that the Nevada convention has 182 affiliated churches, comparing that to the 2,707 churches that are affiliated with the SBTC. Over the past six months, the Nevada convention has celebrated the launch of two church plants, and Cirincione said three more potential church planters will be assessed in the coming weeks.

“Our congregations need encouragement, our pastors need encouragement, and as a convention, we need help in giving that encouragement,” Cirincione said. “Our heart’s desire … is to be a light to our pastors, and we need help and resources so that we can do that. We know this partnership with [the SBTC] is going to be profound. We’re excited to learn and grow with you.”

Nevada, like Texas, is becoming increasingly diverse. Cirincione said more than 100 countries are represented by the residents of Nevada, who speak 200 languages. Those demographics have created an environment where, again, much like Texas, a great opportunity to reach the nations exists “right in our own backyard.”

“We may be a small convention, but there’s so much work that needs to be done within our state,” Cirincione said, “and I believe with all my heart that we are truly poised for much growth in the coming years. We’re excited to see what God is going to do.”

Post-Roe, Texas PRCs experience influx of visits, needs

The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in June was an answer to prayer for pro-lifers across the nation, including for the 2,500-some-odd pregnancy resource centers that meet the physical and spiritual needs of women searching for an alternative to abortion.

That landmark legal victory, though, has led to a major need.

Pregnancy resource centers, which stay afloat with donations and are also known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” are experiencing an influx of visits from women who previously would have visited an abortion clinic instead.

In the month after Roe, Hope Pregnancy Center in College Station saw a 17% increase in the number of women seeking pregnancy testing and consultation, and a 22% increase in the number of benevolence and material support requests.

Incredibly, Hope Pregnancy Center also experienced a 157% increase in the number of male partners attending appointments with mothers.

“We need to enlarge our available space to accommodate these needs,” Carol Dodds, the executive director of Hope Pregnancy Center, said. “That will require a significant influx of large donations.”

Hope Pregnancy Center is not alone.

Jonelle Fields, executive director of the Center for Pregnancy in Friendswood (a suburb of Houston), said the overturning of Roe impacted lower-income women who don’t have the money to travel to states such as California, where abortion remains legal. Those women are now flocking to Fields’ pregnancy resource center.

“We need to be there for them,” Fields said.

Dodds and Fields are celebrating the overturning of Roe. They also are urging churches to step in the gap for women—many of them single—who are facing an unplanned pregnancy. The centers need more donations.

Often, the women who visit a pregnancy resource center supported Roe, Fields said.

“[They] are going to see it as that they have lost an option,” she said. “Unfortunately, when people find out that they are having a challenging pregnancy circumstance—an unplanned pregnancy—it can feel almost like getting a cancer diagnosis.”

Roe’s demise has led to an opportunity for pregnancy resources and churches to be the hands and feet of Christ in assisting women in need, Fields said. The centers in College Station and Friendswood offer pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, pregnancy consultation, parenting classes and material support—all free.

“We have to be there when they pick up their phone, when they Google, so they know that they’re not alone,” Fields said. “So they know that they can speak with someone in their time of stress.”

The goal, Fields said, is for local churches to continue the relationship with the women who enter the doors of a pregnancy resource center—similar to a runner passing a baton to another runner in a relay.

“We’re not supposed to be here for the rest of their lives,” Fields said of pregnancy resource centers. “We’re supposed to be here for the beginning and as long as we can with them and their young child—and then plug them in to more community resources, plug them in to churches so that they can have that abundant life in Christ. It’s not just that we want them to come in here and make a life choice for their baby. We want to be able to help them to see that they have value as a beautiful human being that God created and that their life means something.”

Fields encourages churches to train their members in CareNet’s Making Life Disciples program, which teaches Christians how to relate to women facing an unplanned pregnancy.

“Not everyone is properly prepared to be able to speak with grace and love and acceptance and compassion to mothers that come from very different backgrounds from them,” Fields said. “So being able to make sure that the people in the churches are trained and understanding and compassionate is so important.”

She also recommends that churches offer Embrace Grace classes for single pregnant women.

Fields said a lesson she learned as a volunteer in college still applies today.

“I was shocked when the woman who was training me said, ‘We’re not just here to save babies.’ She said, ‘If a mother comes in and makes a life choice for her child, her child grows up, she grows old and they both die without the Lord and spend eternity apart from Him—what have you done?’

“We are here,” Fields, “to be able to support people for eternity.”

SBTC DR teams experience unusual, productive summer of ministry

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers have experienced a busy and unusual spring and summer.

Just as SBTC DR volunteers, in cooperation with other state DR teams, wrapped up work assisting Ukrainian refugees in Romania in late May, additional SBTC DR volunteers began deploying to Moldova in June.

DR teams helped along the border of Romania and Ukraine in a variety of capacities, helping Romanian Baptist churches man a border station; distributing water, food, and coffee to refugees, truckers, and first responders; and serving in church-run refugee shelters.

“The border was about two to three U.S. blocks from where we set up,” said SBTC DR chaplain Debby Nichols, who was part of the last group sent to Romania. “We were not allowed closer than that unless we were assisting a refugee to carry bags or luggage to the border.”

Baptist DR volunteers worked also to establish connections with the Pompierii, the Romanian firefighters assisting with border security.

“They were very helpful to us. Most are not Christian, so we tried to build relationships with them,” Nichols said.

Six SBTC DR teams comprised of a total of 24 volunteers teamed with Southern Baptist DR teams from Missouri, California, and Alabama, to minister along the Ukrainian-Romanian border, SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice confirmed.

Working under the leadership of North Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief, three SBTC DR two-person teams have ministered in Moldova, rotating in and out over the last five weeks, Stice added.

“The Moldovan ministry is occurring in a whole different context,” Stice said. Volunteers are working in a children’s home that is hosting Ukrainian refugees. They are also working alongside Ukrainian refugees themselves helping to improve conditions at the home.

“We helped with everything from landscaping to running water lines to working on streets,” Stice said, adding that Baptists, including SBTC DR volunteers, have led English classes and Bible classes in the evenings at the children’s home.

Volunteers stayed busy. For example, James Crawford of Bonham unloaded 1,200 solar panels from a semi-truck one day, enlisting the aid of a young man from Odessa, Ukraine, with whom Crawford shared Scripture and developed a relationship. Diana Vann Stewart of Bryan taught English as a Second Language to adults and children and assisted with Bible classes and children’s activities for refugees.

While language remained a barrier, Vann Stewart said the Ukrainians were “wonderful people in need of kindness and knowing there is help for them as they work through the changes in their lives.” She added that it was a “wonderful experience to worship with them.”

While all SBTC DR volunteers have returned stateside, Stice said he expects a request for additional international volunteers in the future.

COVID affected the groups, Stice added. Three SBTC DR volunteers came home with the virus, but all recovered. It is unknown if they contracted COVID at the children’s home or during travel.

In other SBTC DR news, a mud-out team is scheduled to deploy to Missouri the week of August 7 to respond to flooding. Shower and laundry teams are also on standby to minister in Kentucky, in response to massive flooding there.

The threat of re-flooding and the logistics of getting teams into affected areas safely have delayed the Kentucky deployment.

“Usually by this time, we are working on our first hurricanes,” Stice said. “That hasn’t happened yet.”

It has been an unusual yet productive season, he added. “The gospel has gone forth as we have been the hands and feet of Jesus in unexpected ways.”

Tyler church rallies around family of fallen sheriff’s deputy

TYLER—Smith County Sheriff’s Office personnel remember Deputy Lorenzo Bustos, who died last week in the line of duty, for his big smile and positive attitude—attributes also noticed by members of Friendly Baptist Church in Tyler, where Bustos and his family have been active members since 2015.

Now the church has established a memorial fund to help the family of the 29-year-old deputy who was killed during a routine traffic stop in the early morning hours of Friday, July 29.

Bustos’ children are 4, 5, and 8 years old.

“I was initially struck by the kindness in Lorenzo’s face and the genuineness of his smile, and I was looking forward to investing in his life,” said Dan Lewis, pastor of Friendly Baptist since March 2022.

Bustos had a significant “impact on our church family,” the pastor said, noting that the deputy and his wife, Gloria, started actively serving in GAs and RAs shortly after joining the church in May 2015.

Bustos had become a follower of Christ after a co-worker from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, where Bustos then served as a correctional officer, invited him to Friendly Baptist. Bustos had recently asked one of the pastors to help him deepen his walk with Christ and they two planned to meet for personal discipleship, Lewis noted.

Bustos died at the end of his shift as a Smith County Sheriff’s Office trainee as he stood behind his patrol car during the traffic stop. A 21-year-old driver was arrested for intoxication manslaughter, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith told news outlets.

Bustos had been working at the sheriff’s office less than six months after previously working for other law enforcement agencies, including the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and the Henderson Police Department. He had quickly bonded with his new Tyler colleagues.

“He had come to be very loved by all of his cohorts and co-workers,” Smith told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “He was doing a great job.”

He will be missed greatly at his church as well, Lewis said. A post on the church’s Facebook page the afternoon of the deputy’s death requested prayer for the Bustos family, friends, and coworkers, and announced the establishment of the memorial fund to assist the family with funeral and related expenses.

“We established the fund because we knew many would want to help this precious family during this difficult time of life. Consequently, many in our community have also stepped in to financially support them,” Lewis said, encouraging those who wish to donate to select the “Lorenzo Bustos Memorial” link from the dropdown menu on the donations page.

Funds will be funneled through the church to an account for the family at Southside Bank of Tyler.

Bustos is survived by his wife and their three children; his parents, Martin and Rosa Bustos; a sister, and two brothers.

This article contains reporting from the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Pushing back against perfectionism

One simple lesson the Lord has been teaching me over the past 18 months of my budding pastorate is this: “Trust Me.”

I’m a bit of a perfectionist. It has come in handy from time to time—better grades in school, general cleanliness (which helped in the marriage department), and a broad sense of being someone who can be trusted. But like most things, it has a dark side.

It began showing up in my quiet time. Like most of you, I’d wake in the early morning, grab coffee and the Scriptures. But rather than delighting in the Lord, I found myself preparing sermons. It then spilled into my Mondays. Mondays are for staff meetings in my world. Those mornings started getting crowded with anxious planning to create “productive” and “streamlined” meetings.

I didn’t realize my pursuit of perfection had gone from a good thing to a “god” thing until one Sunday afternoon. I was in my office three hours before a members meeting, and I was literally rehearsing every word I would say. I had a 2,700-word document with questions I anticipated the members would ask, discussion points, things to pray over, and new members to welcome.

My pursuit of perfection was also affecting my health. I couldn’t say no to night snacking. It was affecting my sleep. I became a light sleeper, and I would wake remembering something insignificant I didn’t accomplish. Going back to sleep was impossible. It was spilling into all my relationships. When God’s providence shuffled my schedule, I was not happy, and others could tell. To put it simply: idols make bad gods.

In my office that Sunday afternoon, God revealed my sin. I started pulling weeds of perfectionist tendencies in my life (repentance) and planting seeds of trust in God (faith). I stopped dressing my works up like they were faith. My sanctification is slow. I’m still in process. Maybe you’re like me. Hopefully you’re better. Regardless, here are two ways I am planting seeds of trust in God:

People over performance

I want to be better at my craft. All good preachers do. But I don’t want to be lopsided. I serve a small church in a small town. When I go to the local grocery store, I run into Deacon Dillard or Sunday School Teacher Sam. I’m called to love my sheep. So, I answer my phone. I give people my full attention. I listen. I host. I laugh. I allow God to override my schedule for love.

Outline over manuscript

Whether I’m preaching or leading a meeting, it is outline-only these days. It’s my way of trusting God. I see it as an opportunity to give Him space to speak through me. And yes, I do believe the Holy Spirit works in our preparation, and yes, I do believe the Lord speaks through guys who manuscript. This isn’t an excuse for pastoral laziness. Just my on-ground expression of trust in God.

Perfectionism is a bad god. Simply trust God to be God.

Mental illness awareness is rising in the pews and the pulpit, Lifeway Research study shows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Most pastors have seen mental illness in their pews, while some have seen it in themselves.

A Lifeway Research study explores U.S. Protestant pastors’ experiences with mental illness and how well their churches are equipped to respond to those who need help.

A majority of pastors (54%) say in the churches where they have served on staff, they have known at least one church member who has been diagnosed with a severe mental illness such as clinical depression, bipolar or schizophrenia. Most of those pastors had experience with a small number of members: 18% say 1-2 and another 18% say 3-5. Fewer pastors say they’ve known 6-10 (8%), 11-20 (5%) or more than 20 (6%). Around a third (34%) say none of their church members have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness, while 12% don’t know.

“There is a healthy generational shift occurring as younger and middle-aged pastors are much more likely to have encountered people in church with severe mental illness than the oldest pastors,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “However, it is not clear whether the presence of those with difficult mental illnesses is increasing among church members or if they have simply felt more comfortable sharing their diagnosis with younger pastors.”

Pastors 65 and older (46%) and those with no college degree (52%) are more likely to say they haven’t known any church members with a severe mental illness.

Twenty-six percent of U.S. Protestant pastors say they have personally struggled with some type of mental illness, including 17% who say it was diagnosed and 9% who say they experienced it but were never diagnosed. Three-quarters (74%) say they’ve never dealt with a mental illness.

Compared to a 2014 Lifeway Research study, a similar number of pastors today say they have endured mental illness themselves (26% v. 23%). More pastors now, however, say they have been diagnosed (17% v. 12%).

“During the COVID-19 pandemic many Americans have faced challenges to their mental health,” said McConnell. “More pastors today are seeking professional help as evidenced by more having been diagnosed with mental illness. Younger pastors are the most likely to say they have endured mental illness.”

Pastors under 45 (37%) are most likely to say they have struggled with some form of mental illness.

Church help

Churchgoers may not hear about mental illness frequently from the pulpit, but most churches will hear about the subject at least once a year from their pastor.

Six in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors say they speak to their churches about acute or chronic mental illness in sermons or large group messages at least once a year, including 17% who bring up the subject about once a year. For more than 2 in 5 pastors, the issue comes up multiple times a year, with 30% saying they talk about it several times a year, 9% saying about once a month and 4% saying several times a month.

Other pastors cover the topic much less frequently, with 26% saying they rarely bring it up and 11% saying they never talk about it. Another 3% aren’t sure.

Pastors are more likely to broach the subject in a large group setting today than 2014, when 49% said they rarely or never spoke about it. Eight years ago, 33% mentioned the issue several times a year or more compared to 43% today.

“While the typical pastor hasn’t experienced mental illness themselves, they are proactively teaching about this need and feel a responsibility to help,” said McConnell. “While preaching on mental illness is the norm and even more pastors feel their church is responsible to help the mentally ill, still 37% of pastors rarely or never bring it up from the pulpit.”

Beyond talking about it from the pulpit, 9 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (89%) say local churches have a responsibility to provide resources and support for individuals with mental illness and their families. Few pastors (10%) disagree.

When asked about specific types of care their churches provide for those suffering from mental illness or their families, more than 4 in 5 pastors say they offer something. Almost 7 in 10 (68%) say their church maintains a list of experts to whom they can refer people. Two in 5 (40%) have a plan for supporting families of those with mental illness. Around a quarter say they provide training for encouraging people with mental illness (26%), offer programs like Celebrate Recovery (26%) or offer topical seminars on depression or anxiety (23%). Close to 1 in 5 provide training for leaders to identify symptoms of mental illness (20%), host groups in their community that help those with mental illness (20%) or have a counselor on staff skilled in mental illness (18%). Another 7% say they provide another resource.

“In the years between studies, more churches have developed plans for supporting families of those with mental illness. A few more are offering training for leaders to identify symptoms of mental illness and hosting groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness,” said McConnell. “The most common and earliest way for a church to care for someone with mental illness is to have a list of mental health experts to refer people to. Yet almost a third of churches don’t have such a list.”

Younger pastors, age 18-44, (9%) are the least likely to say they don’t provide any of the potential resources. Pastors at churches with fewer than 50 in attendance (24%) are the most likely.

As pastors are most likely to say they have a referral list at their church, most say they’re prepared to identify when someone needs to be referred to an expert. Almost 9 in 10 pastors (86%) agree they feel equipped to identify when a person is dealing with acute or chronic mental illness that may require a referral to a medical professional, with 34% strongly agreeing. Few (12%) don’t feel equipped, and 1% aren’t sure.

The percentage of pastors who feel equipped is up slightly from 2014 when 81% said they felt capable of making the identification and referral.

For more information, view the complete report and visit LifewayResearch.com.