What Now?

It has been a year and a half since I resigned as pastor in Kokomo. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what God wants me to do with this next chapter of my life. The Lord drew my attention to a verse of scripture that has become my theme:

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation.” Psalm 71:18a (NIV)

This is exactly what I want to do.  Accordingly, I have looked at several possibilities:

1. I looked at becoming a specialist in helping churches as an interim pastor. I did an interim last fall and enjoyed my time with the church in Walla Walla, Washington. To do interim work on a full-time basis is tough, because you never have a real home. You move every nine months or so. That becomes problematic on several levels. I don’t think that it would work for our family as a permanent way of life. However, doing an interim from time to time could be possible.

2. I had hopes of overseeing a group of churches. I spent a long time going through an extensive candidating process with an area church fellowship, even becoming a finalist, but someone else was chosen, so that door was closed.

3. I asked the Lord if He was done with me in ministry and should I look for a secular job? I considered this carefully, but I’m trained and experienced in ministry. Even though I have a master’s degree in business, I have used it solely in the context of ministry. Besides, the secular job world was not crying out for this old pastor.

4. What I would most like to do is to consult and coach pastors and churches. This would directly fulfill Ps. 71:18a, and I think I could help churches that are plateaued or declining see what they need to do to get moving in a positive direction. My age would help me challenge older church members to get behind younger pastors who want to make the changes necessary for a church to reach the next generation. Making a living at consulting and coaching is not a very easy proposition. I’ll continue to seek ways I can do this, but I won’t rely on it as a way to put bread on the table.

5. Perhaps, the most obvious thing for me to do is to return to pastoring somewhere. I put my name out to churches that are looking for pastors, and I had preliminary interviews with six churches and been invited to candidate by five of them. To each I have said no. Not because they were bad situations. All of them held good possibilities. As a matter of fact, two of the churches are larger than any of the churches I have led. I just did not feel that God was calling me to any of them. This past week, when I turned down the last two of these churches, it finally occurred to me that God doesn’t want me to pastor anywhere at this time.

6. Then what am I going to do? What has God led me to do? For the last six months or so I have been working as the administrator for Tina Houser Ministries. I kind of fell into it, because Tina is my wife, her ministry has been growing at an explosive pace, and she needed some help. I’m doing things that I haven’t done very much (bookkeeping), learning to do some new stuff (website maintenance), and getting to brag about my wife (promoting her books and her workshops). I get to travel with her (and lug her books and stuff around), and see her shine as she shares her heart for ministry to children. This is what I believe God wants me to do now. It is a means by which I can make an impact on the next generation. This is a part-time job, so I’ll continue to seek ways to serve the church. Actually, the thing that has made this a hard decision is that it lacks financial security, but Tina and I both believe that God is directing us to do this. In a couple of weeks we are moving to Woodstock, Georgia, at least, temporarily. We will get to be near our son and his wonderful wife. We’ll get to be grandparents to our beautiful grandtwins (see above). In addition, I hope to do some preaching, and I’ll have time to do some consulting or coaching, should those opportunities present themselves. Finally, for the first time in 38 years I will be involved in a local church without being on the pastoral staff. (By the way, I intend to be some pastor’s big supporter!)

So, if you see Tina anywhere in the world, you will probably see me behind her book table. And, if your church can use my help, I am very available. Thank you to all those who have been praying for me through this time. You have been a rock for me. Please keep looking for this blog. I plan to continue to use this platform to share with you all and to proclaim God’s power to the next generation.