Last month Pastor Robert Frederich went Home to be with his lovely wife and the Lord he loved. From where I sit he left the best possible pastoral/personal legacy one can leave. When I met Robert Frederich in the late 90’s at a two day retreat in New England, he had the sweet scent of […]
Memories of a Genteel Warrior
A genteel warrior has laid his sword-sharp pen aside. On January 22, 2012 Keith Miller split heaven wide open. Keith was a fresh soul; alive with passion. I remember fondly his honesty, counterintuitive common sense, vulnerability, intelligence, incisive insight, down-home winsomeness, humor and grace. I especially remember the grace. In the early 90’s I was […]
Leave a Legacy to Celebrate!
Sometimes it is good for us to think about dying. I think about it a lot and I’ve come close to doing it. A year ago this past week, I slipped on Ice landing backwards headfirst on a cement sidewalk. I suffered a severe concussion resulting in the diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury by Vanderbilt […]
Ministering to Ministry Professionals
We need you to help us brainstorm. We need your concrete suggestions, wild ideas, proven techniques and creative thoughts. Christian Leaders and their families are generally isolated and untouched by those they serve. Our expectations are high for pastors, their wives and their children. Our day to day service to them is usually inconsistent, small […]
You Cannot Delegate This
Time. It flies. It waits for no man. It cannot be slowed, rushed, hurried or stopped. It silently, relentlessly ticks off its measured, irretrievable increments. Its perpetual motion cannot be stalled. Its pendulum just keeps swinging. There is seldom enough of it. It is indifferent too. It consumes life without feeling. It cares not when […]
Why Joseph Is My Hero
With the exception of Baby Jesus, no one in the Christmas story fascinates me more than Joseph. His understandable dismay when he discovered his fiancé was with child is well known. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. He and Mary were engaged, were committed to sexual purity and were anticipating their wedding eagerly. Then the awaited […]
If Accountability Groups Don’t Work, What Does?
The most common solution proposed to help pastors share their secret struggles is the establishment of accountability groups. This is deemed important because as Gayle Haggard shares in her book, Why I Stayed, “Secrets are what empowers sin.” To effectively curb sin in ministry professional souls and lives the solution is accountability. Right? Probably not. […]
The Secret Driven Life
I have only heard Gordon MacDonald speak one time. It was in the early summer of 1988. His talk encouraged me emotionally during a very painful period in my private life. His subject? The Private Life of the Public Person. I identified profoundly with him because my secret struggles were just surfacing. After he spoke […]
Hope in Times of Crisis:When Pastors and Churches Need Recovery
by Dale O. Wolery and Dale S. Ryan It doesn’t seem that complicated. He is drowning, arms flailing. Throw him a rope. If he grabs the rope. Pull him out. Simple. Rescue complete. But in real life it seldom works that simply. There are complications. Lots of them.
Healing for the Broken Ministry Marriage
Enrichment, the ministry professionl’s journal published by the Asssemblies of God, has recently published one of Dale Wolery’s articles. It is called, Healing for the Broken Ministry Marriage. Rick Knoth, the Managing Editor of Enrichment, came to this web site, saw some articles he liked and asked Dale to write the article. We invite you […]
