Pastoring of pastors can include four basic functions:
1. Pastoral care of each other's lives
2. Ministerial mentoring
3. Hearing God with other colleagues
4. Studying a topic together to stimulate growth (optional)
Let's look at each of these with more details.
1. Pastoral
Care for Each Other's Lives
Which of these questions
in the following link (Ten Accountability
Questions) most draws your attention?
2. Ministerial
Mentoring
A group of two to
three people can spend an hour mentoring or helping one
member of the group each time they meet. If you want
more information about the GROW model of doing this in an
effective and efficient way, click here.
3. Hearing
God with other Colleagues
Having defined one
area in which the group or one member of the group needs
to hear from God, the group can spend a while in silence
to hear the Lord (2-5 minutes). If the prayer time is specific
for a certain person, that person can stay seated where
they are, or sit in the middle of the group, to facilitate
the laying on of hands.
During the time of
silence, everyone should be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit
brings to their minds, especially key Biblical passages
(see John 16:12-15; Heb 4:12).
It helps if someone
takes notes about what is ministered. (Some people even
like to have a tape recorder).
At the end of the
prayer ministry time, the person who received prayer should
express what they are feeling to God. In order not
to quickly forget what was ministered, he/she should also
write down what they heard God saying or what they felt
him do, before going to bed that night (see Hab. 2:1-3).
You can also find out more about hearing from God on our tools page.
4. Studying
a Topic Together
Three Possible Rhythms of Pastoring of Pastors
A. Weekly:
when there is a specific high priority project that the
group wants to complete. For instance,
- A discipleship or intensive
and intentional life-formation project
- A special recycling course
- A mission task or project, for
example working with a ministry team to gain a city
or neighborhood for Christ.
- A structured proposal to implement
a new strategy in the group members’ churches,
for example, developing a pastoral leadership team or
starting a pilot project for cell groups.
B. Biweekly:
when a weekly project doesn’t need as much attention,
or when investing in this project requires reproduction
in other groups that require the leaders’ time.
C. Monthly:
good for pastors with little time or with mature relationships
(for example, after establishing a firm foundation in the
weekly and biweekly encounters and reaching a stage of reproducing
pastoring for others). This rhythm also works for pastors
that live far away from each other and can’t get together
more frequently.
Other Pastoring
of Pastors Resources
