Twelve Reasons I Love My Pastor

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I love pastors and others who serve churches vocationally. But I must admit, I don’t verbalize or write about that love very often. Shame on me. Allow me to take a few moments to articulate some of the reasons I love my pastor.

  1. I love my pastor because he studies and preaches the Word faithfully. He is consistent every week.
  2. I love my pastor because he is a man of prayer. He knows he cannot lead and shepherd our church in his own power. He is totally dependent on God.
  3. I love my pastor because he is always on call. His workweeks are long. He knows his vacations and days off will often be interrupted by crises and deaths, but he doesn’t complain. He views it as a part of his call.
  4. I love my pastor because he is there to celebrate my victories and to comfort me in my difficulties. His life is a roller coaster of emotional events, but he remains constant and strong for our church.
  5. I love my pastor because he leads our church with a vision. And he constantly seeks to make certain it is God’s vision and not his own.
  6. I love my pastor because he endures criticism from church members. And though the critics hurt him, he perseveres and loves them anyway.
  7. I love my pastor because he is authentic. He does not act spiritually superior or condescending. The pastor I see in the pulpit is consistent with the pastor I see in other settings.
  8. I love my pastor because he bears the burdens of leading many people without complaints or self-pity. He hears of so many challenges and problems in others’ lives, but that does not deter him from listening and praying for us.
  9. I love my pastor because he is sacrificial. He seeks to put us church members before himself. He is a selfless man and a grateful man.
  10. I love my pastor because he loves to share the gospel and the power of the resurrection. He is truly passionate about seeing those without Christ become followers of the Savior.
  11. I love my pastor because he disciples and mentors many. He understands that his role is not to do all the work of ministry, but to equip others to do the work of ministry.
  12. I love my pastor because he loves our congregation with a Christ-like love. Though he can get frustrated and discouraged, his love for us does not wane. Indeed we get a glimpse of the love of Christ through the love of our pastor.

I could name so many other reasons I love my pastor, but I will let these be sufficient for now. I would love to hear from you about why you love your pastor. Feel free to give the name of your pastor and the name of your church.

By the way, my pastor’s name is Mike Glenn. He serves the congregation of Brentwood Baptist Church. I am really looking forward to your responses.

Posted on April 29, 2015


With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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107 Comments

  • Lee Wiltsie says on

    To those that say a woman is not meant to preach; I would love to see that debated with Joyce Meyer! Can you seriously believe that God did not call on Joyce to preach? There are many difficult verses throughout God’s Word (to interpret). We should not get quite so caught up in thinking we have an exact lock on the complete meaning.

    • “Can you seriously believe that God did not call on Joyce to preach? ”

      Yes, I can. I can also believe He didn’t call Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland.

  • Shanda Lyons says on

    I’m so grateful that my Pastor Ed Litton at North Mobile embodies all of these. As does his wife, Kathy, and the rest of our staff! Thank you for sharing!

  • Debbie Marshall says on

    My husband and I are “baby” Christians. Our pastor, since last September, is all the things you have listed. We especially love him because he is down-to-earth, humble, and fabulous to listen to during his sermons and bibles studies. He also breaks everything down into scenarios that we can relate to in todays world, peppered with a little humor as needed.

    Pastor Arthur Werry is our pastor at New Life Baptist Church in Roseville, MI

  • He runs 8% tithe specials and has a credit card swipe at each chair for convenient payments.

    Just kidding! Humility, openness to change, practical and relevant messages and he endures my attempts at humor. Blessings!

  • I love my pastor too, Thom! In fact, it’s the man you are describing in this article – Mike Glenn. What an amazing man of God we have who is leading our congregation at Brentwood Baptist. He claims to have the “coolest church” but I believe it’s because we have the “coolest pastor”!! Thanks to Mike for the years he has spent dedicated to BBC, and now to see our Middle Tennessee initiative becoming something bigger than anyone ever imagined, it’s due to Mike’s vision and his belief in those who surround him. Mike rocks!

  • I love my pastor because he has a heart for all ages. He is young (mid 30s), but relates extremely well to our mostly older congregation. At the same time, he seeks to encourage and reach younger people. He is wise beyond his years. My pastor is Dr. James Hassell at FBC, San Angelo.

  • Bennie Conkright says on

    I love my pastor because he allows the congregation to dream also.

  • Stephanie Files says on

    I love my pastor because he doesn’t just mention missions, or preach about missions, he helps us give (a lot!) to missions and goes to the mission field regularly. Despite arthritis, he sleeps in tents and on the ground in the name of the gospel.

    Brother Dannie Williams, First Baptist Church Lyons GA

  • Bro. Thom,

    I appreciate this post. I recently tendered my resignation at my current church as their Youth Pastor. I plan to begin pursuing a Pastoral position in the future. This post basically sums up everything that I want to be as a Pastor.

  • I stay at Brentwood baptist because of our pastor! I love Mike Glenn!

  • I notice that #3 & #9 seem to be in conflict with taking care of oneself so that the pastor can take care of others. There’s no Sabbatical/vacation time that you appreciate, but actually appreciate when that personal time is disrupted. From the pastor’s point of view, is the church more important than they’re spiritual health? While I appreciated the other 8, these two create negative boundary issues for me.

  • Hi Thom,

    Great article! I love the emails Mike sends every week. Our Sunday School class receives them. Mike is real. I’ve never seen a pastor more equipped to speak to multi generations and do so with such class. This is truly a gift from The Lord. He spends so much time ahead in preparation and he is never afraid to speak about sensitive issues with accountability for us to love the world yet full of grace. His words “sit” and cause a lot of thinking on my heart as a true disciple of Christ. We are not to worship our pastor. We are to worship who our pastor is taking about. Our prayers should begin, at all times, with who ever our local pastor is. He and his family need our prayers more than anyone else. People can be so insensitive about pastors in general and in addition to this not being the love of Christ in action, Jesus will have to deal with your words and heart defects. Be careful, people of God, with your insensitivity about pastors of God. Their calling is a huge set of shoes to fill. Blessings!

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