Why "A Pastor Of One"?

After much "encouragement" from my wife to start a blog...here goes...

Why title my blog "A Pastor Of One"?

It goes many years back, to my time at Trinity Western University, when I was taking classes while awaiting a "call to ministry".  I had completed my Pastoral Theology degree from then Western Pentecostal Bible College, now Summit Pacific College in Clayburn, B.C., near the city of Abbotsford.  A good friend of mine, Christina Battermann and I were chatting in the TWU coffee shop and I was sharing my frustration with not having received a call to ministry.  Christina said, "Well, maybe you're called to be a pastor of one."  I asked her what she meant by that.  She shared the idea that maybe I wasn't meant for pulpit ministry...that perhaps God had called me to a more intimate, one-on-one ministry with whomever He brought my way.  That conversation with Christina had a tremendous impact on my idea of the calling of God in my life and had a lot to do with my return to the ministry, after many years of wandering in the wilderness.

When you read through the Gospel accounts of Christ's encounters with others it is striking how many involve intimate moments with individuals.  Quiet moments of one-on-one encouragement or challenge with words pinpointing personal issues and pointing the way out of human failing to the victory in God's Way.  And when you think about it, while Jesus did have opportunities in front of the crowds (the Sermon on the Mount) I read a narrative that shows a man that sought out individuals from amongst the crowds and preferred quieter settings for more personal and intimate ministry.

I have never had a pulpit or a church and I have not yet received "credentials" from a formal ministry (although that will soon change, thanks to the encouragement of a pastor-friend, Mary Potter).  As I look back on the years immediately following my graduation from Summit Pacific, I am thankful to God I didn't get a pulpit.  It was His grace that kept me from being called into a church ministry before I was ready.

As I stated earlier, over the course of the next twenty-five years or more since my days in bible college, I had been in a figurative wilderness.  In that time, God showed me much about my character (good and bad) and revealed to me the truth that His gifts and calling are without repentance.  Whatever my state, whatever my condition, He would not hold back His gifts and calling in my life...and He would hold me accountable for those gifts and His call at the Judgment Seat.

Now, at fifty-five years young, I can see the hand of God directing me, even in that wilderness time, into personal and intimate encounters with others who needed an encouraging word, a challenging word, a word to help them see their hope in Christ.  I have been "ministering" all along...to individuals He brought my way...my "congregations of one".  Sometimes I worked in powerful cooperation with the Holy Spirit; sometimes it was despite my own stubborn, selfish, willfulness in the moment.

As I prepare to receive my credentials and the "laying on of hands" with the ECC of N.Amer, I believe that I am better prepared now than I ever was to serve my Savior's Church.  Not that I have "arrived"...but, I have learned one of the most valuable lessons a pastor can learn: that what matters is not the size of the congregation before you...all that matters is the heart of the one in front of you right now.