Facebook Posts to a Fired Preacher Trying Out

I’m a member of some preacher pages on Facebook. One of my brothers struggled through a difficult time for him and his family. I placed the following on Facebook. His name has been changed.

John, I pray for you often. Your pain connects with my pain. December 19, 1976, at 10:20 a.m., was the most painful day of my life. It was followed by months of pain. It was difficult for me, my wife, and my children. I didn’t handle the transition well for them. When I realized what I’d done and hadn’t done that would’ve made it better, I confessed to them my lack of wisdom and asked for their forgiveness. It hurts. I tell this story often in leadership training classes and talking with preachers: The Best Day to Fire a Preacher

Suggestion: the way you view the elders or leaders of the congregation where you’re trying out will control the way you relate to them. If you think they know better than what they’re doing — the dog and pony show — to hurt you and other preachers, it’ll come out in your attitude.

Please consider another reason they might be doing the dog and pony show or, as I call it the the beauty contest method of choosing a preacher: Why Would Anybody Do That?

Here’s another post on the same topic: One Reason People Act the Way They Do

Here’s a page on my website that might have a “mustard seed” for the try-out process: The Search

John, I hurt with you and have prayed for you often during this ordeal. I don’t know how you feel, but I know the pain and helplessness my family and I went through during the winter of 1976-1977, many years ago. Churches that had reached out to me to preach for them before, when I called after my firing, no longer wanted to talk with me. An elder reprimanded me at a congregation where I tied out because I was fired. But we finally found a church in Dalton, Georgia, willing to invite a fired preacher to work with them. We enjoyed eleven years with them, raised our children there, and they still call Dalton their home. May God bless you and your family as you go through this time. If I can be helpful, don’t hesitate to contact me:

Email: jerrie@barberclippings.com

Phone: (615) 584-0512.

I’ll be glad to listen.