“I wanna walk, A mile in your shoes, wanna walk a mile in your shoes, I wanna know what you’re thinkin, watcha fellin so I really wanna walk a mile in your shoes!” This song was written in the 80’s and expresses a sentiment that still holds much validity. It is difficult to sense what others may be feeling unless we know what it was like to walk a mile in their shoes.

A few weeks ago I was invited to take a position as interim pastor. It will be a six month term in an established church. It will give me the opportunity to again experience the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of pastoral ministry. During this time we will be readying our new ministry home for many more years of rest and spiritual refreshing for pastors and spouses.

Since the day we began these retreats for pastors six years ago, it has been such a humbling experience to host these friends, as God has taken my brokenness and failings and used it all to welcome, comfort and encourage our treasured guests. And, there is nothing they share with us that I have not seen or experienced first -hand. The Redeemer has shown me that we can be effective in means of hospitality and listening, showing our ministry friends that nothing is impossible with God. When we partner with Jesus, miracles will take place.

These next months will be a time of preparation. Rooms will be decorated, walls painted, carpet and windows cleaned. Much prayer and planning will be invested. And, I will get a refresher in pastoral life. I wanna walk a mile in your shoes again. And, we want to provide the best experience of rest and renewal possible.

Over the past several months, I have been hoping to find updated data regarding the life of the pastor. We have some of the alarming information on our website homepage. This data was compiled by Focus on the Family, Barna Research and Fuller Institute. Because the statistics on pastor burnout and discouragement in the 90’s were so alarming, it was not surprising God called us into ministry to pastors in 2003. I had hoped to find updated stats which would show a better picture. However, to my chagrin, the stats show that the situation is no better, even worse in some instances. This is actually no surprise to us. Many of our guests have indicated that the challenges keep coming.

• 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.
• 85% of pastors said their greatest problem is they are weary of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors!
• 50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

I pray this pandemic situation will be reversed. I hear words of criticism expressed by church members about the pastor or other leaders. Someone wisely stated, “The best way to get a better pastor is to pray for the pastor you have.”

If we can help pastors, 4 or 5 at a time, at our rest and renewal retreats, we can make a difference. We will soon be closing on our new ministry home. The number of retreats we will provide yearly through Deer Ridge Ministries will double! Opportunities to gather with area pastors will also increase the ministry of encouragement and facilitate healing in the parsonage. It’s been hard to wait. But, the time has finally come! Please pray for us as we continue to ready the house. And, pray that other ministries will be raised up to serve these dedicated and gifted pastors and spouses.