BACK AND BETTER
His name is Harrison, but everyone called him Happy Harry.
This pastor won his nickname through a seemingly endless supply of encouraging words, smiles, and positive takes on challenging situations. Some wondered if his joyful demeanor was a front, but Pastor Harrison was as genuine as they come. As a young senior pastor, he also hadn’t experienced a significant amount of personal or congregational hardship.
And then, just before a Standing Stone shepherd met Pastor Harry,
his happy life got very difficult, very fast.
Over the period of a few short days, Pastor Harrison experienced an onslaught of grief, loss, and death. A woman in his church committed suicide, a teenage congregant was killed in a tragic car accident, a young man he had been reaching out to also took his own life, and his 50-year-old mother died suddenly of an aneurism. A few days later, on the way to his mother’s Celebration of Life service, Harrison’s wife received word that her grandmother had gone home to be with Jesus.
The shock and sadness felt overwhelming. Confusion and grief descended like an impenetrable fog in Harrison’s mind and heart.
Through a mutual ministry friend, our shepherd reached out to Pastor Harrison. Harry agreed to meet with our shepherd, eager to know where to start with his grief and loss. Our shepherd offered to walk with him through this dark valley, helping him care for his soul and stay connected with God.
That was six months ago.
Pastor Harrison and our shepherd still meet regularly. There’s a smile on Harry’s face again, and the spring is returning to his step. God, our ever-present help in time of trouble, has brought comfort and help to Harrison and his congregation.
In many ways, Happy Harry is back. He’s also very different. His smile expresses a deeper level of compassion, his encouraging words a more resilient authenticity, his positive takes a more hope- and faith-filled trust in God than ever before.
We celebrate God’s work in Pastor Harrison’s life!
Guiding the Happy Harrys of the world into healthy ministry is a tremendous privilege. Thanks for supporting us as we support those on the front lines of ministry. May God continue to equip us all for His Kingdom work.
Weekly Encouragement
2 Corinthians provides us a beautiful picture of the ministry of presence, or–as we call it–shepherding:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV
Our God is compassionate. He comforts us in our troubles. He is our good Father, our Savior, our Redeemer, the Lover of our Souls, our Living Hope.
Hallelujah!
God also equips us to comfort others with the comfort He’s given us. Indeed, He lovingly asks us to pass on what we’ve received and learned during times of heartache and suffering.
To join the Standing Stone shepherding team, a candidate must have a minimum of seven years of active ministry service. The vast majority of our shepherds have multiple decades of experience, however.
Why? Because there’s nothing that can replace suffering as a qualification for the ministry of shepherding. You simply can’t shepherd well without some scars. The troubles of our shepherds’ lives become the very source of God’s comfort and compassion for them and for every ministry leader they serve.
You’ve gone through some troubles, too. Perhaps you know what it’s like to lose someone, to face financial setbacks, to go through a health crisis. How might you comfort someone else with the comfort you received from God? Maybe it’s time to send a little text, mail a card, or make a meal.
At Standing Stone, we’re committed to shepherding ministry leaders with the comfort we’ve received from God. We pray that you will join us in living compassionately because we are people who have experienced compassion.
