Week 23 – Pursue Wisdom - The Gospel Coalition

The reading this week is Proverbs 4-24

Tim Elmore (MCE, MDiv) is married to a wonderful daughter of Christ with whom he has three children. For more than twenty years, God has seen fit to use Tim to proclaim the Gospel through various ministry roles around the world. Currently, Tim is the Senior Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church in Stratford, ON. Follow him on Twitter @timelmore2.

Marshall Morden is married to Candace and is new to both fatherhood and pastoral ministry. He recently left his career in business to pursue the Lord’s calling to vocational ministry. He is currently studying at Heritage College & Seminary and is serving as the Associate Pastor at Memorial Baptist Church is Stratford, ON.

I Am One of The Eighty-Five Percent Who Did Not Persist in Pastoral Ministry

Numerous scholarly works, podcasts, and leadership materials reference a well-known Duke University study that stated 85% of seminary graduates leave the pastoral ministry within 5 years of completing their studies. But rarely do we hear firsthand from one of these individuals. Well, I am one of the 85% who did not persist in pastoral ministry. Allow me to share my story, and if it is a familiar story to you, I pray that this will be an encouragement to your weary soul, and even if ever so slightly, give you hope into believing that God is working in and through...