Being the pastor of the same church for a long time is great.
One of the benefits is that you get to see the end of some stories which pastors who only dodge into a place for five or six years and then move on would never see. Recently I had just such an experience. Hopefully it will encourage you.
When I first came to the church over 30 years ago there was a lovely young family – a mum and dad plus three children. The younger two children became Christians but the older girl, Eleanor, did not. She was a delightful girl, bright and knowing her own mind, with the strength of character to stand alone as the unbeliever in a believing family. Many were the prayers to God of both individuals and the gathered church for her conversion. But nothing at all seemed to happen.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …