A Shepherd Among his Sheep: The Relationship Between a Pastor and His Members

Abstract

Love God’s Word. Love God’s people. Love connecting God’s Word to God’s people. Perhaps that would be a good way of summarizing pastoral ministry. Many pastors entered the ministry out of love for God’s people. Through their time in the WELS training program, pastors learned about and grew in their love for God’s Word. Now it’s time to connect the two… but that may be the hardest part and the Bible does not prescribe any one way of doing this. This thesis will seek to prove that pastors can share the gospel best with his members when they build deep personal relationships with them. To do that, this thesis will briefly explain how the apostle Paul built and maintained relationships with people. It will then attempt to describe a few tactics today’s pastor can use to build relationships no matter where or whom he serves. Finally, it will describe different ways a pastor can maintain those relationships with his members so he can remain effective in his pursuit of connecting God’s Word to God’s people.