What is the relationship between energy and effectiveness in ministry? A number of metaphors are used.

Some pastors see themselves as a mountain pool, needing both an inlet and an outlet to stay fresh. Others use the sine curve as a model, with fluctuations in energy and enthusiasm considered natural and expected. Both groups want to remain effective.

To find out how to keep a sharp cutting edge in ministry, LEADERSHIP editors Jim Berkley and Marshall Shelley met with four Minneapolis-area pastors:

-Leith Anderson, from Wooddale Church in nearby Eden Prairie

-Bruce Chapman, of First Evangelical Free Church in Minneapolis

-Phil Sackett, of Excelsior Bible Church

-George Voeks, long-time pastor of East Emmanuel Lutheran Church in St. Paul.

Leadership: You appear to be happy survivors in ministry. What's your secret?

Bruce Chapman: I have a principle for long tenure in a church: People can put up with pastoral weaknesses if they know the pastor is growing. When pastors start to stagnate, there will ...