October is Pastor Appreciation month! We recently held a union-wide ministerial retreat in Kansas City and it was amazing to rub shoulders with the pastoral team for our union. Craig Carr and the conference ministerial team put together a wonderful event that was a blessing for all of us.
Mid-America has a tremendous group of pastors who love the Lord, love the church, and are intent on serving their communities and bringing the Three Angel’s Message to their areas. One of the big challenges given to the pastors in Kansas City was to be sure the gospel was front and center in all their presentations. This is something Ellen White also urged all pastors to do.
One of the highlights for me was meeting the various women the Lord has called to ministry here in Mid-America. I only knew about three of them previously, and it was nice to get acquainted and hear their stories. Most Adventists have not been around women pastor because there are so few. This was true for me too for half my ministry journey.
The first woman I ever had the opportunity to meet who received a call to ministry was Pastor Esther Knott, who was on the staff of Pioneer Memorial Church in Michigan. I was the youth director in Michigan in the late 1990’s and I had the opportunity to rub shoulders with her. Honestly, I had my doubts about her because all I had known in my journey were men in ministry. However, I can tell you from firsthand experience, I saw her ministry bless the church and Andrews University. In fact, she had the courage to tackle one issue on campus those before never wanted to touch. It was then I realized God does call women to ministry and blesses them on their journey.
Another woman in ministry I met when I arrived at the Rocky Mountain Conference was Karen Lewis. She was the personal ministries director for the conference and was giving seminars and writing Bible studies to help our church members gain a love and appreciation for winning people to Christ.
Before working for the Rocky Mountain Conference, she was employed by the Franktown Adventist Church as their Bible worker. I became a member of that church and learned very quickly of Karen’s love and expertise in collaborating with people interested in learning about Christ. She had a wonderful way of encouraging people to make the Lord first in their lives.
Unfortunately, Rocky Mountain needed to have a large financial restructuring and a reduction in force was necessary. Karen’s job at the conference ended as part of that financial plan. When she learned of this, while being disappointed, she was gracious throughout the process. In the meantime, she enrolled in the MA in Pastoral Ministries from Andrews University. Soon after she received a call to pastor in the Minnesota Conference.
As you might expect, wherever Karen pastored soul winning went up. Her members loved her greatly and she was so effective that the conference asked her to become the ministerial director—a position she still holds today. The pastoral force in Minnesota is thankful for Karen’s leadership. The Mid-America Union is thankful to have one of the few women ministerial directors in the North American Division.
I am grateful for those districts who are open to women in ministry. The ones that have been are thankful they were. I pray we will continue to be a union open to whom the Lord chooses to call to ministry, regardless of gender.
Please be sure to give your pastor a warm gesture of appreciation this month. Not as an ego boost, but as a true gift of encouragement.
