So You Have Been Called to Your First Church

By Dr. Anthony D. Johnson

Romans 10:15 says, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! The Bible says that the feet of those who preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ are beautiful.

According tohttp://www.pastorburnout.com/pastor-burnout-statistics.html:

13% of active pastors are divorced;

23% have been fired or pressured to resign at least once;

33% felt burnout within their first five years of ministry;

45% say that they experienced depression;

70% dont have close friends; and

1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.

If 1,500 doctors left their practices each month, 1,500 teachers left their classrooms each month, or 1,500 managers left their offices each month, we would declare a state of emergency.

What is so beautiful about this chosen profession? Why are there such ugly results from a ministry that the Bible calls beautiful? It was this passion and this thrust that led Dr. Anthony D. Johnson, ThD, to interject his experiences into this discussion. Somebody has to recapture the beauty of ministry. He says, Please let the mess from my mistakes create ease for you in your assignment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490883298

Dr. Anthony D. Johnson

Dr. Anthony D. Johnson, ThD, is the pastor of Prayer Temple church in Redford, Michigan. He has led the church for fifteen years. During this tenure, he has transitioned the ministry from traditional to contemporary without losing some of the old school church benchmarks. Dr. Johnson has been able to combine technology and theology with great success. His bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit in management information system and thirteen-plus years as an IT professional have enabled him to create interactive presentations to minister to the diverse congregation. He is a board member of Kingdom Alliance Covenant Fellowship under the leadership of Bishop Edgar Vann. He is the board vice president of Redford Interfaith Relief. He has conducted several leadership conferences, and he serves as a mentor to many young preachers and pastors. He has been married to Sis. Toya Johnson for well over twenty years. They have three kids: Anthony Johnson Jr., Maurice Johnson, and Alyse Johnson. Prayer Temple has two Sunday morning worship services, two Wednesday Bible class services, an active and growing youth ministry, children’s ministry, and a host of other venues that minister to the total man.

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Copyright © 2015 Dr. Anthony D. Johnson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Except where otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations in this book are take from The Holy Bible (King James Version; 1611, public domain).

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-8328-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8329-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015909038

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/04/2015

CONTENTS

Purpose

Letter To The Readers

Introduction

Chapter 1 Year 1 and Year 2 Do Nothing

Chapter 2 Year 3 Prepare for Battle

Chapter 3 Years 4 And 5 Discern, Discern, Discern

Chapter 4 Year 6 The Year of Settlement

Chapter 5 Year 6A Your Personal Life

Chapter 6 Year 7 Full Time

Conclusion

Special Thanks

Notes

Other Sources of Reading

About The Author

PURPOSE

This book is designed for anyone who has been called or chosen for greatness. Whether it is to lead a flock, manage a department, run a nonprofit organization, or manage the family reunion, the insights of this book will assist you in those endeavors.

This book, on purpose, is an easy read. No deep stuff here, no spooky stuff here, no irrelevant arguments with another author, no big words, no senseless pontification, no dogma, no Greek or Hebrew words—just plain truth based upon my first seven years as a pastor.

When I graduated from college, I received my bachelor’s in management information systems. Shout out to University of Detroit–Mercy, the best school in the world. Anyway, after my academics, my first job out of college was writing manuals for General Motors. My job was to explain how to use the technical GUI (graphical user interface) for the global purchasing system (GPS).

My main assignment was to take complex technical techniques and translate them into easy-to-understand instructions for average users. The objective of that assignment gave birth to my purpose in corporate America. As an information technology professional for the next fifteen years, my job was to help users understand how to use complex technology to work for them in layperson’s terms.

That same focus is the fuel of my ministry. I am proud to be the pastor of Prayer Temple Church in Redford, Michigan. Our church motto is Church without the spooky stuff, church without the boring stuff! We take great pride in members who say, At Prayer Temple, I finally get it!

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:1, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

Paul had great success in ministry because he kept it simple.

The flow and ease of reading will captivate you. Once you start reading it, you will not put this book down. You will finish this book in one weekend. When is the last time you started and finished a book? Congratulations! You have been called into greatness!

LETTER TO THE READERS

Dear Reader,

Please allow me to express my sincere appreciation to you for purchasing this book. It is my first book, and as you can imagine, I was nervous all the way up to my final submission.

A new nervousness dawned on me when I considered you—the reader. I thought about the emotions you would experience as you perused one chapter to the next. What did you experience at your church? What were your frustrations as you began your big task?

Even to the nonpastor who may purchase