The most important preparation you can make— throughout the process, but especially at the point of getting ready for an interview visit/weekend— is spiritual preparation. Because of the nature of the interview process, there are two dimensions to this: ministry preparation, and personal/candidacy preparation.First, remember that you will be in-residence as a minister to the people you

Chuck Warnock (who is getting closer to finishing a Doctor of Ministry degree himself) offers five very helpful questions to ask when considering starting a D.Min. degree:Do I have time?Will my church support me?Can I commit 4-7 years to the process?Do I want an accredited degree or just the title?What criteria will I use to select a D.Min. program?Be sure to read Chuck's particular explanation and

Originally posted September 5, 2005The floor examination has a clear purpose: to test your readiness for ministry.Notice: I didn't say, “test your knowledge” or “test your theological acuity.” This is a test of how ready you are for the day-to-day, hour-by-hour work of ministry.A little background-- when a Candidate for Gospel Ministry pursues ordination in the Presbyterian

In an end-of-the-year newsletter that I recently received from a friend and former seminary classmate, he wrote something to the effect of, "church planting is physically and emotionally harder than I ever imagined."The man who wrote these words is a good man, a great pastor, and a hard-working church planter. I'm grateful for his ministry and for the particular labor that God has called him to do,

HT: Matt

A friend recently shared this reflection with me, and I thought it offered great insight into this sort of situation-- when you're not sure if you should be looking for an opportunity for transition or not. I posted a version of what he wrote, but he wanted to re-work it a bit after I posted! Here's his updated story:Ed, I hope the following reflections on my transition are helpful for some of your

First published September 5, 2005Most of the men I know who have remained in ministry for a number of years have done so through the friendships they made in seminary.In whatever way that it has materialized, these men (and often their families alongside them) have maintained friendships with a few very close friends from their seminary years. Those friendships have been a central factor in keeping

We just published some new documents at the Doulos Resources "Other Resources" page. We have some forms, checklists, templates, and even a database template. Check them out!

First published August 20, 2005...I don't know any seminarians who have lost weight or gotten in better shape during seminary.Don't get me wrong-- I do know a good handful of guys that find time to exercise. Even I have found streaks of a few weeks where I've been on the treadmill regularly. But my pitfall is, I would guess, the same as many of my fellow seminarians': some point in the semester (exam

[A]n essential part of the ordination exam ought to be a passage from some recognized theological work set for translation into vulgar English--just like doing Latin prose. Failure on this exam should mean failure on the whole exam. It is absolutely disgraceful that we expect missionaries to the Bantus to learn Bantu but never ask whether our missionaries to the Americans or English can speak American

There is an X-factor in church ministry that sort of fits into the "transitions" category, but it also really doesn't in some ways. That is the category of staff.By staff, I mean administrative and support staff. Ministry staff should be viewed and treated essentially in the same way that ordained pastoral staff are, at least from the perspective of calling, terms of call, evaluation, etc. But administrative

A friend of mine is standing for his ordination exams later this week. If you don't know what that means, here's a summary: after finishing a long written exam (or several) on theology, church history, church government, and Bible content, and an oral exam by a committee on the same, he will now stand before a whole presbytery (which is all of the ordained pastors in that region, plus representative

Originally posted on August 5, 2005You think transition is hard on you? Wait until you see the fallout for your family.Any transition is difficult-- not just for a pastor, but for his wife, children, parents, siblings, former friends... no one is left unscathed. Some friends of mine recently felt the force of this as they moved to seminary: they were doing pretty well with it, until it finally caught

Originally posted July 30, 2005Anytime I'm left waiting in someone's office, I look at what is on the shelves: usually, the books capture my interest the most, though I was once fascinated to find a clean, yet broken, inner-race of a automotive constant-velocity (CV) joint on the shelf of a philosophy professor! (The CV joint is the amazing piece of a car's axle that allows the wheels to spin at different

Doulos Resources has recently released one of my latest projects: an updated edition of the book William the Baptist. William the Baptist was published by James M. Chaney in 1877, and is a great book on Reformed, covenantal baptism. Some have called it the finest book ever written on baptism. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for years, and the best copies available were simply facsimile editions

Originally posted in July, 2005: Who are the people in your neighborhood?Sing along if you know it: Oh the postman always brings the mail, in rain or snow or sleet or hail...The Sr. Pastor I worked with in Roanoke had an interesting experiment going on when I started: he would stop for gas at the station less than two blocks from the church property and would routinely ask the attendant for directions

My friend Doug did an interview with me via e-mail about my process of candidacy and transition. Part one is here.Here is part two:8. Briefly describe your experience of transitioning into your role as pastor?It's still going on, in many ways: most studies have shown that pastors don't really become as effective in their ministries as possible until seven years in, and that they don't effect significant

I've been blogging for four and a half years, with well over 300 posts. Somewhere in there is some decent stuff-- and, while I'm still writing new stuff, I'm going to start occasionally re-posting some of the older ones, particularly when they are timely.And, since many who were seminarians a week ago are no longer seminarians, but now are seminary graduates, I'm going to re-post my series on making

Over at Going to Seminary.com, a guy named Jake Belder has written a post entitled "Is Seminary Relevant? The Contra Argument". He offers 10 reasons why he believes seminaries are (or are becoming) irrelevant. [Update: Jake Belder is actually the editor of Going to Seminary.com; the post was written by Matt Cleaver.]I call "bull" on all of them. Really-- he has substantial flaws in every argument.

As I highlighted in my last post on this subject, the core factor here is, are you called to serve in pastoral ministry? If the answer is "yes" then nothing-- not economic crises, not the reality of more seminarians to "compete" with for a position, not the length of time since you began earnestly seeking placement-- NOTHING should keep you from continuing to pursue the fulfillment of that call.How

A friend of mine recently learned-- the hard way-- that he was in a type of position I call the "unintentional interim." Here's the lay of the land: the pastor that served this congregation before my friend was their pastor for several decades. He was beloved by his people, and served them faithfully. This isn't to say that there were not surely more difficult times, but over their many years together

Happy Reformation Day from Placement Reflections (and Ligonier Ministries).

This is a re-post from my Pastor's Blog, originally posted on 10/9/2008...To the generation of faithful men who, as Pastors and Elders, led the formation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA):Dear fathers in the faith,Thank you for the work that you did 35 years ago, in the years leading up to then, and in the years that followed. You stood against attacks on orthodoxy and biblical truth and

A few people have asked me about my preaching practices lately-- specifically, how I prepare for preaching, and what I do while I'm actually preaching. I'm going to spend a few posts working through this.FundamentalsThe first thing you should know is that I primarily preach verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter through books, in an expository* manner. When I started my ministry at Hickory Withe Presbyterian

My professor and friend, Phil Douglass, is zealous about church planting. He encouraged everyone he thought was capable of doing it to consider becoming a church planter.Here's a series of audio messages of PCA pastor and church planter Tim Keller on the question, "why plant churches?" If you're considering church planting as the next direction for your ministry (or for the first step out of seminary),

Got your attention? Good.One of my favorite writers on church and ministry is Thom Rainer. His son Sam is a pretty astute guy, too.Between now and Monday, you can get a copy of their book Essential Church? for free, as a downloadable PDF e-book.

In the front pews the old ladies turn up heir hearing aids, and a young lady slips her six-year-old a Life Saver and a Magic Marker. A college sophomore home for vacation who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand. The vice-president of a bank who twice this week has considered suicide places his hymnal in the rack. A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside

Here are two quick videos that are helpful information on ministry, along with a couple of quick reflections on their use in the candidacy and placement process. This is the assignment: watch each video, then spend two minutes jotting down your responses to the reflection questions below them, with regard to your current church or a church you are candidating with. (Total time: 10 minutes)John Piper

Many seminarians look at church planting as an exciting option to consider when they begin candidacy-- and it is. But there are also a lot of obstacles. Beyond the simple (but difficult) hurdle of support-raising, the complexity of planting can be daunting. Here is a series of videos from PCA pastor Tim Keller on church planting that highlights some of the essential principles, attitudes, and elements

I have a lot of people visiting my blog who are looking for salary information for pastors (according to the stats and search strings that lead people here). I imagine some are churches looking for data about how to set a pastor's salary, while others are candidates (or established pastors) who are trying to determine if the figures they are being offered are fair, if they match the averages, etc.Frankly,

MacUpdate is a website that, like VersionTracker and Softpedia, catalogs software for Macs, Windows PCs, and others.Today and for a limited, they are offering a MacUpdate Promo. This is a bundle of programs for the Mac that are normally over $300, but you can buy them in bundle for $49.99.Why am I mentioning this here? Three of the seven programs included in the bundle: DevonAgent, Mellel, and Bookends.

I've written a post like this before, but it's been a while and I've read a lot of books since then. Plus, this one is more narrow in focus.At General Assembly last week, one of my good friends from seminary (who is open to small church and revitalization ministry in the future) said to me, "I've read From Embers to a Flame [by Harry Reeder]; what other books would you recommend to me about church

There are times when the ministry is tough-- enough to make you ask, "is this worth it?"Let me tell you clearly: it is.Every now and then, God will send encouragement your way to stoke the fires for ministry. Here are a few recent examples from my ministry: In an e-mail received on a Monday morning: "Just wanted to let you that the message was so good. We are so happy to have you as our pastor."

A few articles, posts, and other such have come to my attention recently that those in transition (or considering it) may find interesting. How a Presbyterian Minister Should Resign. Good thoughts here on the way that a resignation is approached-- not in a strictly businesslike manner, but with care and consideration for one's responsibilities as a Pastor and Presbyter. PCA Ministerial Glut. Back

A good while back I blogged about the importance of building a pastoral wardrobe while in seminary (though, of course, it's not too late to do so after seminary, especially for those of you whose realization that it actually DOES matter what you wear came late-- as in, after you accepted a call to ministry and still believed your Doc Martins would be the only dress shoe you needed.... c'mon, you know

Back in the summer of 2005, I wrote a series of posts for those who had recently placed on the idea of how to start your ministry well. Having recently made a transition-- and having completed my first 90 days-- I thought it would be helpful to re-examine those sage bits of advice and see how much I still agreed with what I said back then!Transition tip #1 was to focus on building the relationships.

I was examined by the Credentials Committee of Covenant Presbytery today, and they approved me for recommendation for ordination. This is huge, and it really feels great to get this step behind me. My friend Michael compares the completion of ordination to the struggle that consumes the movie Poseidon Adventure-- not a bad analogy.Almost anyone emerging from seminary and entering ministry will be "ordained"

Those of you who are still bothering to watch this blog may be wondering where I am! To be sure, I haven't kept up with Placement Reflections as much as I intended to-- or as much as I would like. When time gets crunched, I think blogging takes substantially lower priorities than the other things.Still, I haven't forgotten this blog-- nor has my interest waned in maintaining it. I'll post more about

For the Mac users among you, you might be interested to know that Accordance is having a Holiday sale on their Accordance Bible software.If you're interested in taking advantage of the sale, you can find details of it here. For my money, Accordance is the best thing out there-- and I've used Bibleworks, Logos, and Quickverse as well, in addition so several of the free ones. I know one guy who switched

Well, I'm back from my extended hiatus from blogging here (as you may have noticed from my old post which just showed up a couple of days ago!). And once again, I'm going to try to maintain a regular posting schedule: once a week on a transition-related post, plus once a week on a "week in the life of a new pastor) post. (I'm still catching up on the latter.)Meanwhile, you might be interested to know

[This post was originally written on Oct. 14, 2007]It's been a crazy week. As I mentioned a few days ago, we got to Tennessee very late. On Wednesday, we met our realtor for the walk-through of our house, then went to set up utilities. After lunch, we met our realtor again and drove to closing. We closed on the house and then went back to the hotel, where I bumped into a member of our new church! (He

One of the things that Mark Dalbey said in his Candidating and Transition into Ministry class was very well-stated:"You need to remember that, on the interview weekend you are beginning your ministry to that church, if you end up going to that church. If you don't, then you have a weekend of ministry at that church."I think this is so important to remember, and too easy to forget. This is a key part

Many of you already know that I work with Dr. Philip Douglass of Covenant Seminary in his ministry consulting firm, Douglass & Associates.  I am pleased to announce that Douglass & Associates has an updated website, with a new look and easier navigation.There are also a few features that are entirely new to the Douglass & Associates website.  The first is a blog called Church Personalities,

I just found this article about Mike Jones, the former male prostitute whose accusations led to Ted Haggard's resignation from his church and from the National Association of Evangelicals last year.  In my view, this is Gospel evangelism at its purest.  Haggard was honest, humbled, and repentant through the course of this scandal, and by owning the consequences of his sin-- and his congregation owning

Yesterday I discussed how we should understand different levels of priority when it comes to issues that unite and divide us in the church. Today I'd like to think about how this matters in pastoral candidacy.One of the first things that candidates must understand is that they do not get the same flexibility with these issues that others get. Only primary issues are matters that should be required

I recently blogged about why convictions are important in the search process. Here I'd like to expand on the decisions surrounding that concept, using a graphical representation that I have found helpful.The diagram that has helped me-- and scores of other students at Covenant Seminary-- understand this concept was developed in 2002 by Bryan Clark, and the foundation of it looks like this:Obviously,

Is there competition in candidacy?A friend and I were talking yesterday about how you should handle situations where you and friend are both candidates for the same position.  As American men, perhaps our sense of competition rises to the surface too often.  (I'm reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer fell off the gambling wagon by betting on, of all things, which flights would arrive next

I know of a church that is without a pastor; in many ways, this church fits a lot of the criteria of my preferences:They are looking for a preaching/teaching pastorThey want a vision-caster and leadership-equipperThey are in a strong area for growth and ministry opportunityThey are in need of revitalization, and are aware of that (and desire it)Sounds like the perfect fit, right?Add to this that I

One of the most difficult lessons I have had to learn is not to take myself too seriously.  I don't like to be teased, and when I mess up I would prefer for others not to notice-- let alone point it out and have a laugh.But I've learned that I need to laugh at myself more frequently.  As I realize my own brokenness more thoroughly, I must admit that I am both unworthy and unable to accomplish the

"I don't know if you can afford to have a pastor as broken as me."So confessed Pastor Joe Novenson to his Session after 10 years of marriage and ministry.  How did his Elders respond?"If God is burning you, we're going to pray that He burns you white-hot."And they gave him a sabbatical to get to know his God and his wife for three months.  Joe says that those men gave him his ministry, and he will

I've blogged before about how one part of an ordination exam tests how well a man is equipped for ministry, and another part examines him for readiness for ministry.  I'm beginning to think that this division applies much more to seminary than a lot of seminarians would be comfortable with.  I was visiting with Bob Burns, Director of the Center for Ministry Leadership, a few days ago, and

Quickly, I'd like to mention a few links that you may be interested in:My friend Craig Dunham, a student at Covenant Seminary, is writing about his "journey" of discerning a call to pastoral ministry.  You can read the first of his posts on his blog, Second Drafts.  You'll find the rest of Craig's posts to be good reading, as well.Project Management Source has published 101 ways to organize

From The Work of the Pastor by William Still:“We must be in our God-appointed place in the ministry. This is vitally important. A minister may be authentically called of God, and may have had abundant evidence in one place that God was there, but due to circumstances, personal or otherwise, a move to another place is made and the ministry goes dead. The new congregation is out of God’s

A classmate and I once talked about the plight of the "Sunday School Lackey"-- oh, what an unfortunate lot.There are those who go through seminary with the wrong attitude toward field education and internship requirements, seeing them as simply items to check off on a list instead of opportunities for growth, experience, learning, and ministering to others. These same students inevitably are little

A few years back, the PCA church I was serving had, as its missions conference focus, the PCA chaplaincy program. Col. David Peterson, a PCA Teaching Elder, came for the weekend, and I learned a lot about the chaplaincy. One of the events of that weekend was a men's prayer breakfast, and at the beginning then Col. Peterson asked how many of the men present were veterans. As this was a small PCA church

I've been listening to a great podcast called "Manager Tools" lately.If you don't know "podcasts", these are the audio and, more recently, video equivalents of blogs. Think of them as privately produced radio. (And the video version of radio-- what would that be?)Manager Tools focuses on the "what to do" aspects of management. But so much of what they talk about is not restricted in application

Those of you who have been tracking my placement progress for these many months may be interested to know that I have accepted a position!As I've implied before, the work I've done for Wildwood Christian School this year-- originally intended to be a one-year interim position-- has opened up an opportunity for me to remain in a permanent position there. I'll continue to teach, but I will also have

There are some really good resources for ministry wives around. Some of them are pretty hard to find, unfortunately, but a little digging can produce some good fruit. One of the best around is a magazine called Just Between Us. It is published quarterly, and is edited by Jill Briscoe, wife of well-known pastor Stuart Briscoe. It is regularly filled with well-written articles that are relevant to

I've joined a new Google Group called Pastor Hacks. Based on the concept of "life hacks"-- that there are little tweaks and changes (hacks, as in computer hacks) that we can do to improve the usability and effectiveness of some parts of life-- this group applies the "life hacks" concept specifically to ministry.So far the discussions have been interesting and I've gotten some good ideas. You might

Dr. Phil Douglass, who I work with in various capacities (see #2 and #3) and whose teaching at Covenant Seminary I deeply valued, makes a bold claim regarding calling and work: he claims that you should spend at least 60% of your time within your area of primary calling and 40% or less in other areas-- otherwise you will burn out. He calls this the "60/40 principle."He further asserts that there should

A church I'm familiar with just announced that their pastor was being removed from the pulpit due to a moral failure on his part.The results of his sin for the congregation seem obvious at first: many will be devastated by this, possibly leaving the church immediately. Many will struggle against the leadership as they lead the congregation through it. Some will refuse to believe it and may deem the

As I approach graduation, the reality of having completed a “Master of Divinity” degree has struck me lately with its profundity. Sure, I suppose I could already list myself as “Ed Eubanks, Jr., B.A. Phil.” (for my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy) but that seems pretty trite when an undergraduate degree is almost taken for granted in most of the world I live in (and it doesn't

My two final classes in seminary are “Psalms and Wisdom Literature” (which is reputed to be one of the most devotional classes in the required schedule) and “Theology and Practice of Prayer”, taught by Jerram Barrs (one of this generation's most Godly men). Those of you who are familiar with the difficulties that delayed my graduation will see the providence of God is this

A little over a year ago, I transferred into the Missouri Presbytery. At the same presbytery meeting (they meet once per quarter), the Clerk of Presbytery gave a brief report on the recent decisions a couple in his church made. It seems that this couple, having raised their children to adulthood, were compelled by God and by a love for people to sell everything-- house, cars, furniture, etc.-- and

I was recently asked to comment about a church that allegedly had some major difficulties more than 10 years ago. In this particular case, I didn't know anything about what I was asked to speak to-- nor did I want to. There are legitimate reasons why someone would want to know about past troubles in a church; someone considering membership, for example, may wish to know about the church they will

The gist of the problem: grassroots organization in the PCA leads to no substantive leadership in the transition process for candidate-churches or candidate-pastors.In the corporate world, a similar problem is solved by folks colloquially referred to as “headhunters”: someone who serves as an agent of sorts for potential employees, even offering advice on the job market and salary package

Yesterday was the last Sunday for our Senior Pastor. He has served the church where we are members for 15 years, and would, it seems clear, be welcome to serve another 15 if the Lord willed it.Pastor G is a model for me, as well as an great encouragement to what is to come. Though he is only a few years older than me, his already long and fruitful ministry stands as a monument to everything I hope

I will be working with Covenant Seminary's Youth in Ministry Institute (YiMi) Summer Conference in June. Specifically, I'm going to work with the leaders who bring students to the conference; my role will be to offer encouragement and some training to them while they are at the conference. As a part of that, I'm get to present a series of seminars to these leaders, four to be exact, on a topic of

I am serving as an assistant to Phil Douglass, one of my professors at the seminary. He is writing a book on the personality of a church-- essentially, how a church, as an organism, tests in terms of Myers-Briggs Temperament Inventory (MBTI). His primary goal is to provide a resource for churches, especially search committees, that will assist them in finding a good fit. This is an interesting area

Last weekend, Marcie and I attended a conference called “From Embers to a Flame.” Its focus is church revitalization, and since that is what I believe God is calling me to, it was quite relevant and helpful. The conference is put on by Briarwood Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Alabama, and is essentially the product of Pastor Harry Reeder's extensive work in the area of revitalization.

It's the end of the semester at seminary (and at the school where I teach), which means it's the season of exhaustion. It is also, incidentally, the Christmas season-- a fact that is both a joy and a dismay to me this year. I love Christmas. I love celebrating it with my wife: forging new traditions, crafting creative gift ideas, and relishing holiday food. In the years since we've been married