About pastor in practice
Hey, I’m Neil.
I’m a pastor and student minister who loves helping people grow in their faith and helping churches do ministry well.
But I’m also still learning.
That’s really where Pastor in Practice comes from.
This isn’t a website built around the idea that I have ministry completely figured out. I don’t. It’s a place to share what I’m learning while actually doing ministry week after week—the things that have worked, the things that haven’t, the ideas we’re trying, and the resources that have helped along the way.
Why pastor in practice?
Ministry can be incredible. It can also be complicated.
Sometimes you’re preparing a sermon while answering parent messages, planning an event, recruiting volunteers, fixing something in the youth room, and trying to remember whether you ever actually ordered the pizza for Sunday night.
A lot of ministry is learned in practice.
Over the years, I’ve benefited tremendously from other pastors and ministry leaders who were willing to share what they were doing instead of keeping everything to themselves. Pastor in Practice is my attempt to do the same.
If something we’ve tried in our ministry can save another pastor a little time, spark an idea, help solve a problem, or simply remind someone that other ministry leaders are figuring this out too, then this site is doing what I hoped it would do.
What You’ll find here
Most of what I write comes directly from things I’m working through in real ministry.
You’ll find practical resources and conversations about things like:
Student Ministry
Weekly programming, events, retreats, volunteers, small groups, games, discipleship, parent communication, ministry calendars, and the hundreds of little things that go into serving students well.
Preaching & Teaching
Sermon preparation, teaching series, Bible study, illustrations, resources, and some of the processes I use when preparing to teach God’s Word.
Church Leadership
Building teams, developing volunteers, creating healthy ministry systems, communicating well, developing culture, and lessons I’m continuing to learn as a ministry leader.
Pastor Life
Occasionally, we’ll talk about the parts of ministry that don’t fit neatly into a Sunday service—balancing responsibilities, staying organized, family, finances, leadership, and life outside the church building.
This isn’t a formula
One thing you’ll probably hear me say often is:
What works for our ministry may not work exactly the same way for yours.
Every church is different. Every community is different. Every group of students is different. So my goal isn’t to give you a formula and tell you that this is the way ministry has to be done.
Instead, I want to show you what we’re actually doing. I’ll tell you why we tried it. I’ll tell you what worked. I’ll tell you what I’d change. And hopefully, you can take whatever is useful and adapt it to the ministry God has entrusted to you.
Ministry is better when we learn together
I don’t want Pastor in Practice to become a place where one person talks and everyone else simply listens.
I hope it becomes a place where ministry leaders can share ideas, ask questions, and learn from one another.
So if you read something and have a better way of doing it, tell me. If you try one of our ideas, let me know how it went. If you’re working through something in your ministry and think it would make a helpful conversation here, reach out.
I’m still a pastor in practice too. And I’m glad you’re here.
— Neil Ferris