Start Strong

When I was a teenager and then college and seminary age, things were much different from the way they are now. But two things in particular. One, if you were the person who made friends with the teacher or professor you were seen as trying to butter them up in order to get some advantage over everyone else. Back in that day and time you were not seen by others as very cool. Today however, that is known as “networking” and is a very good thing to do, I missed out there desiring more to be thought of as cool. The second thing was that I had no idea about getting started in ministry and the idea of looking for a mentor. I didn’t know that I should have gone to my pastor during college and especially seminary and asked if I could spend time with him, shadow him, go on visits with him, just learn from him. So this was another opportunity for learning that I missed out on.

The purpose then, of this book, the reason for writing it is that I determined if I ever had the opportunity to help a young pastor I would take it. And so this advice comes with that intention and desire – to help you “Start Strong.” What I missed out on, I want to make sure others don’t miss. My prayer is that this bit of information, experiential advice, first hand observation and learning will help you as you begin your ministry. And this is not just advice that will help the new pastor, any area of ministry you are in and just starting out or still very early in the journey, this will benefit you also. So even if you are not a pastor I hope that you will read this little book and take it to heart. These six things served me very well during my pastoral ministry. I believe they will help you too. So the reason for writing it is that I want you to “Start strong”