Emmanuel Mennonite

How to Grow a Pastor

Recently I was asked to be part of the Mennonite Church Canada Strategic Plan Task Force for Pastoral Leadership Development - or more informally as I've begun to think of it, the How to Grow a Pastor Task Force.

What kind of training do pastors need?  Is there a difference between training and education?  What is currently being provided by our schools, and what else do we need from them?  What is the role of the denomination, area conferences, and congregations?  How do we train pastors for multicultural congregations?  For congregations with different church structures?

We had our first "meeting" on Thursday morning--a conference call that brought together Task Force members across the country and both sides of the border.  As with most other denominational meetings, we began with greeting one another, with Scripture, with prayer, but it feels very different doing that over the phone than in person!  And since we couldn't see one another, as we began the discussion, we needed to say each time who was talking.  So it was a different kind of meeting, but a good start to our work, and I'm looking forward to working together . . . .