Recently, a conference president I know was not asked to return to the presidency for another term. I have served in other places with this man and have a high regard for him. I have watched his ministry over the years and prayed for him as he led his churches and pastors through challenging times. When we worked in the same conference, I noticed several things stood out about him, but one especially made me appreciate him a lot. He was very resourceful.

Some folks say that Cleanliness is next to Godliness. As one who often takes two showers a day, you can put me in that camp(just make sure there is a shower there). But there is another character trait next to Godliness that I hold high and that is Resourcefulness. This president gave his heart and time to pastors in order to help them grow and become better at their craft and ministry. He gave them ideas, courage, challenges, and tools to make a difference in their churches. I can't say enough good about him for that.

I suspect he made some mistakes, although I don't know of any, but working in that position, you just have to make some mistakes. He might have lost his balance along the way, fighting for pastoral accountability and trying to change a system that rewards pastors by moving them on instead of growing them up where they are. I call it musical pulpits. Let's revolve the pastors around the conference and see which ones can grab a pulpit and hold on to it long enough before we start the music again. Then, unfortunately, some pastor is left out to find a call and move on, or move out of the ministry all together.

I don't think this president had any taste for such music. His thing was to improve you where you were. He held you accountable for your churches health and growth, no question about that. That itself is enough to scare even the most secure of us. I say that because you need authority if you are going to be accountable. I understand this from my military training. I said something and because of the bars on my shoulder, it was done. I was mandated to have the authority. Fortunately, the military also taught me how easy it was to lose that authority and what it took to build it up again. Bars on your shoulder are not enough. Leadership is more than telling people what to do in a gruff voice. But without authority, accountability is of little value. It may look good on a strategic plan, but it will tear your churches apart as well as the pastors.

I think this president did all he could to hold pastors accountable while at the same time creating a culture of authority for them in their churches. Neither one of these is easy and I suspect that one cannot outrun the other. They both have to be restored in tandem, or disaster will come. He knew that. You could tell by what he was putting his time into. You could tell by what he said.

Unfortunately, he took on a tough job and was unable to see it all the way through. I think his resourcefulness gave him the constitution and sacrificial commitment to keep at it. Undoubtedly there are those who do not like him right now and there are those who think he was doing a great job. I find this division tedious and very unhelpful. I think I am not alone in that. In some ways, it really does not matter. In one very important way, it matters greatly. We need him and his family. Our church needs him and his family. Leaving him out of leadership for churches and pastors is a great loss to us. After many years of leadership myself and knowing well the difference between leadership and that which passes for leadership, I will tell you that he is a leader.

I hope and often pray that there will be another conference that will be looking for someone to lead them just like him. He might be a little bruised up right now, even dazed. He might be pondering the meaning of it all or wondering where and why he will serve again. But I think with the Spirit of God by his side, that the conference who asks him to come alongside and help them build for the future will be doing itself a very good thing. He has learned a lot, and he will continue to learn more. And he will put that to good use. He is resourceful and committed to pastoral ministry and that focus is vital to conference leadership. Like the Sons of Issachar, he knows the times. He's not perfect, but I haven't met a leader yet who was. Some of the best leaders I've known, knew that very fact and kept their frailty close to their heart. That is one of the greatest resources he has and it causes him, as well as us to know how much we must depend on God.

May God lead him to just the right place of service at the right time.