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PIR Support Team Testimony
Having led five successful support team affirmations, I can say this has been a most rewarding experience for me. Each pastor has been different, with various circumstances, but some common threads have been, an openness to discuss the past exiting experience, to realize the special call of God still on their lives and to see hope restored. The breakthroughs came at different points in the process, but it has been a beautiful thing to watch the gifted pastors entertain the thought of resuming their ministry.
Nordstrom Story
What a spectacular ministry! I saw how the loss of ministry can have a huge affect as I watched the results unfold in my families' lives growing up. After losing his ministry job, my dad let go of his passion and quit following the ministry trail he'd been on for 10+ years. Eventually it affected every aspect of his life and helped lead to my parents' separation and divorce. They still talk about the root of their issues beginning when that job was lost and the depression, frustration and despair that followed. Now, too, in my own family, we have faced the loss of a seemingly clear and specific calling from God and are living through the "what now God" or "did I misunderstand" phase.
Unfortunately this couple didn't have the opportunity to benefit from the ministry of PIR!
David and Glenda Childers
Chuck Wickman, Founder of PIR, says, "It's as clear to me today as it was over 20 years ago when Jim Amandus came to our California church as the first Pastor-in-Residence. After months with us, he went to Highlands Community Church in Renton, Washington. I like to call Jim a 'Master Pastor' since God has used him in so many significant ways at Highlands. The church grows and grows. One of the outstanding ways God uses him is to do Pastor-in-Residence programs, resulting in many exited pastors being returned to ministry. One of our goals is to get restored pastors to do PIR programs in the churches they serve. This exponentially multiplies the ministry of churches renewing and restoring pastors." The following testimony of David and Glenda Childers reflects the impact Jim Amandus is having on PIRs at Highlands Community Church. As you read it, may God bless you as He did me.
"I will never forget the day that two elders came to our home to tell my wife and me that I was being fired from my full time pastoral position. Our initial feelings were shock, fear and even shame. These questions began to whirl: How will I provide for my family? What will become of my gifts and passions? Is God finished with me?
"We were encouraged by friends and family to take advantage of the severance package and to take time before the Lord to deal with our own brokenness and need for healing. We met weekly for prayer, friendship and accountability with another pastor and his wife. We shared laughter and tears and they continually reminded us that God had a plan and He was not finished with us. We needed to be reminded of this often!
"We wondered what God doing was doing? In God's gracious way, we heard about the Pastor-In-Residence program. In my first conversation with Pastor Jim Amandus we shared each other's stories. I hung up that day knowing that he believes in me! To make a long story short, we were accepted into the Pastor-In-Residence program at Highlands Community Church. What an amazing gift the PIR program was to us and here are just a few of the reasons:
- The HCC pastors and elders met with us to hear our story, confirm my qualifications as an elder, and affirm my role as a pastor. As you might imagine, this was a very emotional time for me.
- Highlands provided the structure for me to raise support and provide for the needs of my family.
- I was immediately welcomed by the staff and, as a Pastor-In-Residence, had a full time position.
- I was provided a place to engage in meaningful ministry.
- My wife and I were welcomed into a small group and weekly worship services provided a safe place for us to recuperate and heal even more.
- The PIR position allowed me to not have a big gap in my resume.
"My wife and I are so grateful for the gift that Highlands gave us! Highlands gave us grace and the reassurance that God wasn't finished with me and the dignity that a pastoral role holds, at a time we really needed it! After six months in the PIR program, I was hired by Highlands as a part time missions pastor. And then, about a year ago I joined staff with WorldVenture as a Church Missions Coach, assisting churches in the Seattle area to become more missional. WorldVenture actually loans me back to Highlands half-time. The combination has been a great one that allows me to keep one foot inside the local church while having a ministry to the broader Body of Christ.
"As Glenda and I reflect on the past several years, we are grateful for His incredible faithfulness to us as a couple."
A Wounded Pastor's Rehabilitation
by Pastor Jim Amandus
Now that I had resigned, I felt ripped down the middle. On the one hand, I still loved people, loved the congregation, and loved God. But on the other hand, I couldn't stand the local church.
In all the confusion and hurt that followed, I told myself I never wanted to pastor another church. My ambivalence became obvious in my search for a new job.
Though I would send out my resume, as soon as I would receive a letter of interest, I would trash it. I just couldn't bring myself to fill out a questionnaire or return a phone call from any search committee.
I wasn't about to give anyone the right to scrutinize my life again. I painted all church leaders with one broad brush: pseudo-pious, judgmental, uncaring and hypocritical.
God continued to work in my life, however. My first step back to ministry was a heart-to-heart conversation with my father. We had moved in temporarily with my parents until we could locate new employment and housing.
"Jim, I know you've been badly hurt by what's happened to you," he said. "But don't leave the ministry just yet. God has His hand on you. Your gifts, education, and talents are too great to be discarded. Give it some more time before you make a final decision."
I had always respected my father. His advice that day touched a responsive chord in my heart, broken as it was. Though apprehensive, I decided to give God a few more weeks to change my mind. If nothing happened, I would say goodbye to ministry.
A few days later, a close friend contacted me with a surprising proposal. His pastor, Chuck Wickman, was initiating a new program in their church, "Pastor-in-Residence." It was targeted at restoring pastors who were disillusioned and hurting because of a bad church experience.
I wanted to know more, and within a few days, Pastor Wickman called, inviting me to lunch.
Chuck's easy going, soft spoken manner immediately resonated in my soul. Over lunch I learned that his interest in wounded pastors was more than theoretical. He himself had twice left the ministry after difficult parish experiences. His spirit, though, had been tenderized by those hard encounters. As we talked, I couldn't help but recall my father's prediction that God might still have a place for me in ministry.
Besides wanting to empathize with hurting pastors, Chuck had another motive. It grew out of his overriding conviction: a pastor is a terrible thing to waste.
Crisis experiences, such as the one endured, that drove so many ministers from the local church permanently, grieved him. "It's a tragic squandering of the resources of the Kingdom of God," he said.
He had done extensive research in exploring the reasons why pastors leave the ministry. "My goal is to find a way to stop the hemorrhaging of talent, experience, and ability from the local church," he said. "I'm determined to reclaim highly-trained, competent and caring individuals for ministry."
His invitation to enter the Pastor-In-Residence program was like oil poured on my wounds. Less than three months after I had left my church humiliated and bitter, I was preparing to re-enter the ministry as a Pastor In Residence. I was, by no means, agreeing to accept another church if offered one, but I was taking the first step in that direction.
The structure of the Pastor-In-Residence program was simple. I was asked to make a six month to one year commitment to the church. In addition, I was instructed to raise my own financial support. Chuck would assist me in sending out a fund-raising letter to my friends and family. Finally, I would serve as a member of the staff and meet with Chuck once a week.
Beyond that, I was not expected to carry any formal ministry responsibilities at the church. If I needed help or counseling in any particular area, the church promised to match me with the appropriate resources. I was free to do as much or as little as I wished.
Because I had previous training in Christian Education, I began helping the Sunday school superintendent arrange classes and curriculum. Besides keeping me busy, it quietly reminded me that I still had something to offer the local church.
I realized I needed to deal with the unresolved anger I carried from my previous church. Throwing resumes in the trash can was no long term solution.
I sought the help of an individual in the church finishing his master's degree in counseling at a local seminary. He graciously took me on without charge. The fiery outrage still rumbling within slowly died out.
My highest hurdle was forgiving the men who had hurt me. I agonized. Part of me wanted to forgive them; another part wanted revenge. But over time,
I released, bit by bit, the bitterness. As I did, the chains of resentment snapped.
The Pastor-In-Residence program returned to me several things that I had lost. First and perhaps most important was the integrity that goes with the title "pastor." When a pastor is stripped of office and forced to pursue other work, he can face a credibility problem. If a search committee asks, "What are you currently doing?" it's awkward to respond by saying "I'm selling insurance" or "I don't have a job." The title, "Pastor-In-Residence," restored some dignity. I was a pastor applying for another pastorate, not an outcast trying to get a foot in the door.
Second, the Pastor-In-Residence program offered me a safe place to sort out my feelings toward the ministry. Chuck said, "Jim, I want to give you time to make a good decision about future local church ministry, not a decision based on financial pressures, isolation, or a sense that no one cares." By sending out approximately forty letters with a cover letter from Chuck, our financial needs were met. The support poured in. Each letter, each check, each note of encouragement was more than a financial gift. It was a vote I should stay in the ministry. These votes felt like a landslide victory.
The confirmation we experienced was more than financial. Christ Community also helped restore my sense of self-esteem. Little by little, I quit berating myself. People came alongside and said, "Jim, you are a pastor. You have a pastor's heart. You can do it." That helped me to see myself as a pastor again.
The final benefit of the Pastor-In-Residence program was the opportunity to improve my conflict-management skills.
One day I said to Chuck, "I'm still an angry person. I believe part of it is that I've never been taught how to resolve conflict. I internalize problems and blame myself way too much." Chuck directed me to a series of tapes by the Alban Institute on church conflict...I devoured the tapes The tapes showed me alternative ways to handle conflict, each of which has its own unique consequences.
The day came when I was ready to leave the program. I accepted a call to my present church with new-found confidence.
While you can't program love, you can communicate love through a program. That's what the Pastor-In-Residence program does. Like Chuck, I too believe it is a terrible squandering of divine resources to waste a trained, gifted, talented pastor. Sometimes it is the shepherd, not the sheep, who needs to be returned to the fold.
Editor's Note: This profile of a "trampled shepherd" in need of healing has been excerpted, with the author's permission, from his article, "A Wounded Pastor's Rescue," which originally appeared in Leadership magazine, Winter/93. At the time of Pastor Jim Amandus' participation in the "Pastor-In-Residence" program, Chuck Wickman was pastoring Christ Community Church (EPC) in Monrovia, CA. Dr. Wickman was also senior pastor of Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, VA where the care and feeding of wounded pastors continues to this day. Dr. Wickman is now serving full-time as President of Pastor-In-Residence Ministry. |
