By Clint Cook

Looking back over my 29 years of pastoring at one church, I keep trying to evaluate how this feat has been possible.  Besides the obvious reasons of the call of God and working with a wonderful church, I believe another reason is what a pastoral mentor told me at the beginning of my pastoral journey: minister conferences and continuing education MUST be a priority.  Throughout my 29 years I have attended numerous conferences, denominational-sponsored events, and even some outside of my own denomination.  The first conference I ever attended was the General Baptist Minister’s Conference.  It is hard to quantify the knowledge, encouragement, and enrichment I have obtained through conferences since then.  In my next couple of posts, I want to discuss some reasons why I think attending a minister’s conference is invaluable.

We can not do effective ministry alone.

The first reason for attending a minister’s conference is for the purpose of developing long-term friendships with other pastors.  Pastors are engaged in a unique occupation, and no one can truly understand the challenges better than a fellow pastor.  My pastor friends automatically understand the burden of ministry; the sacrifice, toll, and cost of ministry upon ourselves and our families; and the joy and the sadness of ministry.  I attend minister conferences because I want to do ministry not just with family and church members, but with life-long friends that can come along beside me because they “get” the ups and downs of pastoring.  I have found and developed many life-long friendships at the General Baptist Minister’s Conference.  You can too.

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To learn more about the Minister’s Conference, go to www.generalbaptist.com or call 573-785-7746573-785-7746