Pastors

A certain pastor aroused lots of curiosity and speculation because of his habit of walking to the railroad tracks each afternoon and standing there alone.

For weeks, the pattern was the same. At exactly 2:35 the freight train would roar by, and the pastor would stand motionless, watching it pass.

"What's he doing?" people wondered. Some feared he was thinking of doing something drastic.

Finally someone asked him why he kept a daily appointment with the train.

He replied, "I just need to see something move around here that I don't have to push."

Okay, it's just a story. But while putting together this issue of LEADERSHIP, we heard a true variation on that theme.

Don Payne, who directs the suburban and rural training center at Denver Seminary, told us about a man in an established career who felt God's call to pastoral ministry. So he left his first career, attended seminary, took a church, and before long began to experience tremendous stress in the pastorate.

That in itself is not unusual. What ...

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