mgpcpastor's blog

Keller, who currently pastors Redeemer Presbyterian church in New York city, pastored for nine years in a much smaller community.

Quote:

Q: What did you learn about pastoral work?
A: In a small town your pastoring sets up your preaching, whereas in a big town your preaching sets up your pastoring. In a big town, because they like the way you preach, they will then trust you to come and share their troubles with you. In a small town they can tell the difference between loud and soft preaching but that is about it. If they see you being wise and kind and loving, they will trust you to come and listen to your sermons. You had to spend time with them in the nursing home, in the prison, at the funeral home.

Q: You learned about pastoring.
A: If you just go to towns like New York and spend all your time ministering, you never learn to pastor. You just learn how to do public communication. Ultimately, your preaching will be worse if you do not know how to pastor because you have not gotten involved in the hurts of people’s lives. I learned a lot from Hopewell and if I had not gone there, I would not know a lot of that. It makes me a much better preacher today, way, way better than if I had never been there.

I recognise my own weaknesses in Keller’s statement.
Read the whole interview in which Keller speaks of his cancer, what he regards as his greatest success and greatest failure along with a battle with introversion: A wave came in.