Pastors are our heroes

One of the new mottos of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board is, “Pastors are our Heroes.” We have 3,600 heroes in our state convention who have the responsibility of preaching the Gospel each week. Many of these men work another job while serving as pastor.

For nearly fifty years, the office of Church Minister Relations (CMR) has existed to support and equip our hero-pastors. Like Aaron and Hur in the Old Testament, we hold up the arms of the man of God as he directs the work of God.  Now, in addition to the ministry of CMR, the Pastor Wellness group has been added to further support our heroes.

Why the additional focus on pastors? Satan has a long history of discouraging godly leaders. Noah was mocked, Elijah became depressed, and Jeremiah was thrown into a muddy pit. Paul and Barnabas were known as encouragers, but Paul, himself, faced discouraging conflict and betrayal.

Pastors today are more susceptible than ever to discouragement and depression. Sadly, some have even walked away from their calling. But pastors have a dedicated group of allies at the GBMB whose sole job is to come alongside them with resources to encourage and equip. In fact, our new structure which includes six regions, will get that help to our pastors more efficiently and effectively.

The office of Church Minister Relations provides encouragement to pastors through Shepherd Care Conferences, Pastor/Deacon/Spouse Retreats, pastor banquets, private Christian counseling, one-on-one pastoral care, and so much more. We have even added a Bi-Vocational Pastors Retreat in 2020. For the pastor’s wife, we offer retreats and luncheons designed to encourage and equip her to thrive – even living in the fishbowl!

You can join us in encouraging and equipping our pastor-heroes through your prayers and support of the Mission Georgia Offering.

• Pray for your pastor and the 3,600 other Georgia Baptist pastors in our state. Pray for their emotional and spiritual health.
• Pray for your pastor’s wife. Pray for all our pastors’ wives to find strong, close friends. She often feels more isolated than her husband and all-too-often does not have a support network.
• Pray for the families of our pastors. Pray that their children will not become discouraged and walk away from the church.

Pastors are our heroes, now more than ever. They are called by God to serve His flock. They would not be happy doing anything else. We want to do all we can to serve the men of God who serve the 3,600 churches of the Georgia Baptist Convention.