CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Perhaps more than any other profession, the work of a pastor requires many skills that overlap home and office. Balance becomes a goal not easily achieved. The knowledge and coaching to do it well needs to be sought out, no matter your stage in life.
Ronny Raines, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tenn., remembers the lessons handed down that became foundational to his 35 years in ministry. Mentoring continues to hold a firm grasp in his life and was the focus of the Iron Sharpens Iron Pastors Retreat last month at First Baptist.
Eight pastors from five states took part in the two-day event. It included four sessions covering five areas of health – physical, relational, financial, mental and spiritual.
“If we’re going to have healthy churches, we need healthy pastors,” said Raines. “A pastor must be physically healthy to have the energy to serve the way he needs to. He needs to have healthy relationships with his wife and kids. Financial health is important for the day you may deploy to another ministry. Mental health is a major issue right now and a big focus of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Spiritual health, of course, reflects on your walk with the Lord. It’s not just about sermons and Bible studies. What is your intimacy with Jesus like?”
Raines’ first on-the-job mentorship came as a young associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Glasgow, Ky.
“James Jones was my Paul,” said Raines of Calvary’s senior pastor. “He let me preach every Sunday – either in the morning or at night. We did funerals and weddings together; went on mission trips. I was in every meeting he was in.
“He gave me opportunities to lead and serve, spending time together in discipleship.”
Experience paid forward
Raines was also a student at Western Kentucky University. He wanted to attend Belmont University for ministry training, but the cost was too high. Jones traveled with him to meet Belmont’s dean of the School of Religion to see what could be done.
The next day the dean called him. A family had volunteered to pay Raines’ way with one stipulation – they didn’t want to be identified. Raines never learned their name.
“It’s been 30 years and I still don’t know,” he said. “Heaven will reveal that. To whom much is given, much is required, and I’ve been given so much.”
Twice a week he drove 100 miles to the school’s Nashville campus, leaving at 5 a.m. and arriving at 7 for an 8 o’clock class. Many days he spent that extra hour shooting hoops in an opened gym.
Raines’ ministry has included pastorates in Kentucky and Florida alongside a staff role with the Kentucky Baptist Convention focused on church revitalization. His arrival as pastor came with each church needing unity to recover from various challenges, from the spiritual to financial.
The Florida church was recovering from “internal chaos” and “mission giving was zero,” he said. Spiritual and numerical growth followed, though, to where it became one of the leading churches in the Florida Baptist Convention for missions giving.
Raines cited the leadership of then-Kentucky Baptist Convention state executive Paul Chitwood and former Florida Baptist Convention leader Tommy Green for their roles in helping churches like his as well as providing connections for pastors.
“The importance of relationships is the foundation,” said Green of FBC-sponsored mentoring conferences. “We provided opportunities for pastors to learn from other pastors through the events.
“These events led to ongoing connections that established personal long-term relationships. The richness of effective practitioners pouring into the lives of other pastors produces tremendous fruit.”
Never stop learning
First Clarksville is planning to hold more Iron Sharpens Iron events. But there are no plans to increase the number of participants beyond eight.
“Pastors are more involved with smaller numbers in attendance,” said Raines. “Men can’t hide in a smaller group.”
The setting makes deeper conversations easier. For example, financial health is important for when a pastor may be deployed to another ministry role. That can happen with a call to the mission field or perhaps a church that is unable to pay much in salary.
At this stage of his career Raines has a lot of experience and wisdom to pass along. But even at 60, he still considers himself also very much a student.
“Everybody needs a Paul. Everybody needs a Timothy. Everybody needs a Barnabas,” he said. “I’ve still got my Paul – James Jones – and talk to him on the phone. I have other guys the Lord has sent who are older than me and have more years of experience. We communicate on a regular basis. And then I’ve got some Timothys I’m investing in.
“I don’t ever want to stop learning, to stop growing.”
