Pastoral ministry is difficult, painful, and confusing. Most of us have thought that the remedy for the difficulty, the pain and the confusion is to acquire an increasing number of pastoral skills and to apply them to the church. Thereby, we believe, we will be able to “fix” the problems, become successful and see the church as increasingly effective in bringing glory and honor to God.

While portions of this course will cover pastoral skills, at the same time, real help comes, not merely from knowing more or becoming more skilled at what we do know, but also from returning to the basics of our faith and drawing supernatural power, freedom and joy from that return.

The purpose of this course is to “return” to the roots, i.e. the incredible joy and freedom we knew at the beginning of our walk with Christ, while also putting the practice of “pastoral skills” within this context of freedom and grace, both for ourselves and for those we shepherd