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WHAT I BELIEVE ABOUT MINISTERS AND SPIRITUAL FATHERING

by Ken Sumrall, CFN Founder

Consider the following statistics:

50% of pastors feel unable to meet the needs of their job.

70% of pastors say they now have lower self esteem today than they did when they first started their ministry.

80% of pastors believe the pastoral ministry has affected their family negatively.

40% of pastors report a serious conflict with a member of their church at least once a week.

It is my conviction that these pastors need to be connected to a small cell of ministers where they know everyone and everyone knows them. It is easier to share issues with or talk openly and receive encouragement with ministers who relate to him or her in a small group and who is cared for by a Spiritual Father.

II. I BELIEVE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A PASTOR OR SPIRITUAL FATHER WHO ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR A MINISTER’S OVERSIGHT, BRIEFLY STATED, ARE:

1. He can impart wisdom into the minister’s life.

   Since God says that wisdom is the principle thing, that alone is enough to have someone to speak wisdom into your life. One of the major qualifications of a spiritual father is the ability to impart wisdom into the lives of his sons and daughters.

2. All of us need someone who can challenge us when we are wrong in doctrine or behavior.

   In other words we need correction along the way. All who have even a limited knowledge of the Bible know that Paul corrected the Corinthian Church as their Spiritual Father. He told them they had many instructors but not many fathers. (1 Cor. 4:14 ). There is a difference in mentoring and fathering. Mentor has become a big word in our day. But you can have a mentor but never meet him. Not so with a Father. He is related to the minister and is there for him when needed. A mentor can serve as an example and is often admired by his student. There is nothing wrong with that and it is needed. But a mentor can never take the place of a spiritual father. You determine your mentors, God determines your spiritual father and you simply recognize and adopt him. The spiritual son or daughter is then recognized by the spiritual father. It is the opposite of the natural father who seeks out and adopts the son or daughter and they recognize him as their father. In the spiritual realm, the father does not go looking for sons or daughters. Sons and daughters seek out a spiritual father.

3. Instructors usually do not tell us when we are wrong. It is the father who has the unction and relationship to see dangers facing a minister and loves them enough to correct them. Some ministers feel that all they need is a teacher. In other words, they want direction without correction. But how can one be directed unless he can be told when he is heading in a wrong direction.

   Genuine sons and daughters are encouraged to accept correction for their own profit. (Heb 12:) These Scriptures also tell us that it is not the son or daughter, but a bastard who does not profit from correction. So spiritual fathers can discern who their sons and daughters are by the way the ministers receive discipline.

   Please note that I am speaking of the correction of a loving, caring father and not of abusive controlling cohesive restrictions of a harsh, uncaring overseer. Therefore it is also necessary that the Spiritual fathers be accountable to a Council of Apostolic Fathers for their methods of discipline.

4. Every Minister needs to be Accountable to a Spiritual Father and his Council.

   The most dangerous minister is one who is not accountable to anyone. He or she can teach heresy, behave immorally, and bring shame on a congregation or his family without having to give account for his actions or teachings. I believe it is the responsibility of the Spiritual Father and the ministers within his cell to know and approve (ordain) every minister who joins the Cell. Paul told his son Timothy “to lay hands on no one suddenly.” (1 Timothy 5). That simply means he was to allow time to know the ministers who desired ordination before laying hands on them. As the minister is accountable to his Spiritual Father (and his council), so the Spiritual Father is accountable to God for the care of the minister.

III. I BELIEVE THAT EVERY GROUP (CELL) OF MINISTERS SHOULD NETWORK WITH OTHER GROUPS (CELLS) OF MINISTERS.

1. The Scripture teaches us that we are all members of one body. We need to “grow up in Him (Christ) … from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" Ephesians 4:16). Again Paul the Apostle tells us: ‘For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
2. Though each ministerial group (cell) sets its own policies, declares its own destiny and ordains and holds accountable its own ministers, I believe those Spiritual Fathers who oversee ministerial groups should be under the watch care of a Spiritual Father and also be related to other Apostolic Fathers under a broad vision set by the Apostolic Council of the Network.
3. Each minister who is a part of a ministerial cell should also be given a certificate of recognition (Not ordination certificate) from the Network .

IV. I BELIEVE THAT OTHER MINISTERIAL (GROUPS) CELLS SHOULD BE BIRTHED FROM EACH ACTIVE MINISTERIAL CELL.

1. When the Father (Pastor) of a group recognizes within his group a minister with the Apostolic gift of gathering and caring for ministers, I believe he should encourage the minister to establish his own ministerial cell. The minister would continue be accountable to the Apostolic Father who released him to begin his own group of ministers.
2. I believe that as natural families release their sons and daughters to establish their own families, so it should be with ministerial families or groups. Through this system, I believe there will be no temptation to revert to centralized government of the Church but the Kingdom of God will keep spreading around the world through relationships rather than through organization.