Last October, as most of you know, I stepped down as the Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church. Notice my words... I didn't say I retired. I said I "stepped down." After thirty-two years of serving Brentwood Baptist Church, I discerned the church was ready for new leadership. This discernment was confirmed with conversations with those I trusted most. Some of the responses were, "I hate to see you do this. You're the only pastor I've ever known." Others said, "Don't blame you. Get out of here and go love on those grandkids!"
My wife asked, "What are you going to do?"
First, I'm more convinced every day that stepping away from pastoral leadership was the right thing for me and for the church.
The church is thriving. (I'm chalking it up to great leadership, but honestly, they're doing so well they've hurt my feelings a little bit).
Second, I felt that I was being led to do something else.
For the last several years of my ministry, I spent most of my time working with the pastors of our eight other campuses. Working with them on sermon preparation and then, going over how they delivered the sermon. Talking with them about how they lead their staff and helping them understand the subtle nuances of the communities and neighborhoods around them.
This became the most satisfying aspect of my job. The process of helping younger ministers understand who they are in Christ and how they are specifically wired by God to carry out their unique ministries became the best part of my day. I wanted to do this more and more.
Here’s what I’ve discovered…
Most pastors don’t know themselves. They haven’t done the hard work to understand their own minds, their own souls. They’ve never made time to sit down and make sense of their journey. Most pastors just wake up one morning and find themselves standing in front of a congregation. Because they don’t know who they are, too many pastors allow the church to define them. This is always disastrous.
However, when pastors are comfortable in their own skins, they allow – even encourage – their congregations to discover their own stories, their own gifts and work out their callings as they develop their ministries of service to the kingdom. There’s nothing more attractive than a church who knows who it is and allows every member to do the same.
So, this is my new calling.
This ministry, that is unfolding as I type this, is focused on pastors and then, of course, the churches they serve. We’re calling it the Engage Church Network and we’ll be focused on Middle Tennessee – from the Alabama line to Kentucky line, from Dickson to Lebanon. Why? First, because I don’t want to spend my life in airports and second, there’s more than enough work to do in Middle Tennessee.
Middle Tennessee is one of the fastest growing areas of the United States. Not only are more people moving into the area, but a lot of different types of people are moving in as well. This means we’re going to need a lot of different kinds of churches and that means we’re going to need a lot of different kinds of pastors.
That’s what I want to do. I want to be part of discovering, training and mentoring these new pastors. I want to work with them as they work in their churches. I want to help us start more churches, re-energize churches in decline and refocus those churches where the neighborhood has changed providing the local congregation with a different opportunity.
You see, I’m very optimistic about the future of the local church in America. I believe our culture is asking questions only Jesus can answer and I believe when the church realizes this, we’ll have another great awakening. Sure, things will change. I believe the future of the church is in local congregations who identify with and serve their neighborhoods. People doing life together, taking care of each other and doing it all centered in a local congregation.
God’s up to something. I want to be part of it. How about you? If you want to be part of this conversation – check that – if you want to be part of this adventure, give me a call or send me a message. There’s going to be enough for all of us to do.
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So glad you have discovered the good life of being available to family...especially the grands! They are called that for reasons that no one understands until they have them!
I would like to talk to you about Crievewood Baptist Church on Hogan Road. We were previously members there until the mid 80s when we joined the BBC congregation. I have spoken with friends that still attend and have visited them last year. The growth is stagnant and the members seem to know it but are unable to change it. We joined the church their in 1967 and the growth and enthusiasm was contagious. It's sad to see!
I don't know if this is what you are interested in as you explore your new calling. But thought of you and wondered what could happen if you were.
Hugs to you and Jeannie as you seek joy in your next calling,
Cordially,
Sandra Tanksley