Healthy Teams and Pastoral Flourishing
Rainy Day Conversations around Greatheart's Table
No one accepts a call to a church or ministry expecting plunging into a world of mistrust, misunderstanding, resistance, and tension. And yet sometimes it happens. A relationship that began with hopes of life turns into a situation where life is being drained and what was meant to be beautiful becomes a place of struggle. This can so wear on pastors or other ministry leaders that in time they pull out of that call or out of ministry all together.
And that grieves me, and it pushes the question of what might be done to shape ministry so that it becomes life-giving instead of life-draining for the pastor. What can be done for pastors to flourish?
That is the question that was covered in a conversation I had with two men recently and which is shared here as another “Rainy Day Conversation around Greatheart’s Table.” As you may know I occasionally record and post conversations on topics of interest to the Greatheart’s Table community. These are audio only conversations which can be accessed on Apple or on Spotify
(The thought behind these interviews, and an explanation of the title, can be found by revisiting this post.)
In this conversation I spoke with two men, one a pastor and the other a counselor. Their shared conviction is that for pastors to flourish they need healthy teams around them. We talked about what that means, and how it might be pursued.
Mike Boland is the pastor of spiritual formation at City Church-Eastside in Atlanta, Georgia.
Neal Salzman is the founder and director of The Rest Initiative, an organization aimed at helping leaders thrive wherever they serve.
These men bring their overlapping sensibilities to the question of how pastors might flourish, and I think you will find their insights not only suggestive, but helpful and hopeful as well. This conversation will be released in two parts.
No one solution will be the cure-all for the struggles of pastoral ministry. But conversations like these move us closer to the goal. I urge you to head over and listen in. And if you’d like to participate in the conversation, email me! I’d love to hear from you.
So true, Randy, that we do not anticipate the body of Christ to be in so much conflict. Often, obviously, sin is rearing its ugly head. We all have different ways of doing things; we like to be in control; and we don't like being told what to do. Also, though, these conflicts are rooted in spiritual battle. So we need to put on the whole armor of God. Although you were probably already aware and have read this book, I call your attention and your reading audience's attention to a book I have "read." During a 70-minute walk, at 1.5 speed, I literally listened to the full Audible text of The Art of Disagreeing: How to Keep Calm and Stay Friends in Hard Conversations, by Gavin Ortlund (2025). Excellent book. I have an immense amount of respect for the Ortlunds as writers and Christian leaders.