AME Pastor Interview Report

The process of selecting a religious leader for this interview was based upon multiple factors. The candidate had to have an adequate amount of knowledge and education about their religion. As well depicts traits of a good leader such as honesty and trustworthiness. My interviewee Sandra Rodriguez was chosen because she showed exemplary characteristics of a religious leader. As well as an impressive resume with a ten month internship in the study of leadership. Also she received a certificate as a minster of gospel from New Beginnings Healing Church. Currently she is a member of the praise and worship team at her church and on the pastor mentorship team. Each one of these educational backgrounds displays her great knowledge and passion for her religion. Thus she was chosen as my candidate for this interview, which is on the topic of worship in which she

As you know, just over 1 year ago I volunteered to take over the organizational aspect of the Communion Team. Even though I made it clear at the time that I did not feel led to become the Spiritual Leader of the team, I have somehow "evolved" into part of that as well. God rarely consults me prior to such events seeking my approval! (fortunately!)

But we persevered. We kept at it. People came and went. Mostly went. We met in several different venues. I attended classes at Fuller Seminary on church growth, leadership, and church structure. Things began to change when I attended some of the intensive classes like “Breaking the 200 Barrier” taught by C. Peter Wagner and John Maxwell. I began to understand some of what I was missing in my leadership strategy—what we were doing wrong or what we were leaving out. Along the way, I discovered the significance of Proverbs 24:3-4, “By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful

On May 29th, 2015 at about eight a.m., a group of eleven youth and three youth leaders from Fair Haven Baptist Church loaded into two vans and prepared for a twelve hour drive. Our destination was a new church located in the middle of a crime-packed, non-believing neighborhood in Sulfur Springs, Florida. For the week, we would partner with a missionary group called Hope Street. Our mission was to take flyers that advertised the local church and go door-to-door, inviting people to the grand opening, which would also be their Easter Sunday service. Little did I know of the huge impact Hope Street would make on the Sulfur Springs community.

We became best friends and talked about our faith lives often. As I was diving into the church more and more, he was pulling away. Because he had been so deeply wounded by various Christians he refused to fellowship with them. I believed he needed to return to the church, as a true Christian. It is my feeling that those of us who are truly following the teachings of Christ, in word and deed, must stay connected to the organized body of believers that can be perceived as corrupt. My reasoning for this is that it’s important we lead in these arenas and our voices are heard about the need to participate in justice and remain humble and seeking people who need the community of church. If we walk away as things are now, we are also committing to allow our brothers and sisters fall into ways that we might think are wrong. This does not sit well with my conscious. Church is incredibly important to keep people united and refreshed through concentrated preaching, teaching, and participation in the world. Our ways and thoughts may be off the mark in many ways, but our intentions, I believe, are pure and through we are broken and faulty humans I know the Holy Spirit can help correct us and get us lined up in the direction we need to

The mentoree could not respond to the problem because of limitations as an associate pastor and not a member. The mentoree noticed that the mentor/pastor for 38 years at this church knows the flock. The mentor began to share with the mentoree why he smiles so much and say so little. After having three strokes and brain surgery and still moving at the age of 84, he says, people will be people and if Jesus’s crucifixion could not change some of their ways and attitude, admittedly, he states, he cannot. The mentor says, he cast the people and their disobedient ways to God and continue to teach and preach the word of God. He also stated he was glad my husband and self was there to help him in the church and learn ministry and

“Beep, Beep, Beep!” That stupid phone just wouldn’t stop nagging me! I rubbed my eyes as I rolled over to turn off the alarm. “Whoa, okay. This is it, my thoughts carried on; I told Marissa I would go to church today. Hmm, do I really want to? I could just lie here in bed and go back to bed. But then what would I do with my day? What excuse would I have for my friend for bailing out of going to church with her, yet again? Yawning, I pulled myself up as I gathered my clean clothes and grabbed a clean towel to go take a shower. A little while later, I felt the warmth of the sunshine on my arms as I walked the four-block walk over to this new, unfamiliar place, full of people who called themselves New Fellowship Christian Church. As I looked towards the front, I thought,

By the time I resigned from my first pastoral position this person, this me, had died. I was now a disenchanted charismatic. I was done with it. I had seen to many people hurt by manipulative prophecy, was tired of trying to earn His Presence through my earnest worship and was sick of hearing people say, “God told me to…” whatever. A statement that was to often followed by some convenient Scripturally opposing stupidity.

Recently I sat down with my pastor to discuss my future in ministry. I had some very heavy things weighing on my heart. After laying them out, I stated that “I often feel like I don’t have the needed self-confidence to do this ministry thing” and that “I think that I’m going to need a very supportive pastor in order to survive my first pastorate.” It was there that he stopped me cold and made if very clear that I could not and should not enter into ministry with that mindset. I could not expect my self-confidence to come from other people. I had to seek that from God. In the moments to come, through some very introspective conversation, I realized that I had been approaching the entire idea of ministry from the wrong direction. Without realizing it I had made it a “strong on the outside” thing. I had completely avoided the true spiritual formation that needed to be occurring on the inside.

My family spent just under five months at this church and while there I learned one thing: the true meaning of “don’t get your hopes up.” Hoping only for a few friends and a place to feel welcomed, I was instead met with snubbing and disregard by the very people I thought were going to ease my transition. Incidentally, I was still

The community I will be focusing on is my church community. The name of the church is called Intense & Deep Bible Church and it was pastored by Willard Abena. About 5 years ago, there was a controversy in the church which sparked division in the church and also causing the pastor to be suspended. At this time, the issue was explained thoroughly to the church congregation and a lot of people were not happy with the results. Whilst the issue was being explained to the church congregation, the youths and children were asked to leave the church and at that point in time, I was considered a youth. So I was not able to figure out what was going on and why I haven’t seen my pastor in church for a very long time, until I became and adult at the age of 18.

Bob and I quit attending church several years ago after we found out that our pastor was misusing church funds. He was doing it in such a way that, upon casual glance of the church financial records, it appeared legitimate, but for all intents and purposes, I believe he could've been found guilty of embezzlement. I still regret that I didn't go directly to the newspaper with the story when I first discovered what he was doing. Instead, I formed an alliance with a small group of people to confront the pastor and the church finance committee because other church members kept warning us that if we did it any other way it would destroy the church, tear the congregation apart, and threaten people's faith, blah, blah, blah-bitty-blah. Well,

There are many scriptures that encourage us to form and achieve team ministry. One passage that I find enlightening is 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV) which says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”. I believe this is foundational to the whole idea of team ministry because it illustrates how God wants us to live and work with each other. To clarify, we grow and develop collectively when the members of a team work together in sharing and respecting talent in others. This scripture communicates responsibility for every believer. It fosters spiritual, mental and emotional team growth. In fact, it removes the burden of self-indulgence to self-surrendering. I believe when we learn to yield first to God, and second to

Pastors, also commonly referred to as ministers, or clergy, entering the church ministry profession largely attribute their vocational choice to a sense of calling (Beebe, 2007; Dodd, 2012; Lee, 2010; Meek, McKinn, Brower, Burnett, 2003; Oleson, 2011). Calling within a pastoral context can be defined as an obligation to live out a mission, set by God, to work for a purpose other than one’s own (Dodd, 2012). Evidently, regardless of the preceding foundational objective to their professional choice, studies show a high attrition rate amongst pastors, due to stress and burnout (Beebe, 2007; Dodds, 2012; Krejcir, 2007). Stress is an “event or a series of events that lead to strain, which can result in physical and psychological health problems” (Corey, et al., 2015, p. 58). Burnout is “a state of physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual depletion characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness” (Corey, et al., 2015, p. 60). A study by Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development of 1,050 pastors revealed telling statistics. For example, 100% of pastors surveyed attested to personally knowing at least one colleague who left the pastorate due to either burnout, moral failure, or church conflict related stress. Additionally, 90% surveyed stated being

Interviewing several pastors can be eye opening in that you will begin to see different character qualities, disciplines and where they are in their spiritual journey. My intention was to interview several pastors, however, I was unable to obtain the responses needed to complete a study such as that. I did get to meet with one pastor, and I believe that it was truly difficult for him to answer most of the questions even after giving him some time to think about each question. My interview was with a very intelligent and spiritual man named Les Harvey. He is currently serving at the Church of the Highlands Greystone campus under many great leaders.