One of the essentials of anyone doing campus/college ministry – serving as a pastor to so many on campus – is finding a nurturing, life-giving pastor that we can bring ourselves under.

It’s called self-care

And if you’re anything like me… this can be something that is too often overlooked because of how busy we get serving and investing in the lives of others.

A part of the practice of “self-care” involves us pastor-types bringing ourselves under the care, support, encouragement, accountability and blessing of one that is older, wiser, more experienced and solely interested in our success a fellow minister of the gospel!

Hopefully this includes a mentor in our field of campus ministry… it really needs to!

But it most definitely should also include the pastor at our local/home church!

Now, if you’re ministry is a church-based ministry, this will be both easy and complex.  For you, the challenge has less to do with brining yourself under your pastor’s leadership, and more to do with how safe you feel brining up absolutely everything to this person that also serves as your supervisor/employer.

For those of us that minister from outside of the local church – in a campus or para-church setting – our need to be worshiping in the local church, under the care and leadership of a pastor that we respect and are willing to hear from, is paramount!

We cannot justify skipping out on the local church because of “all that we do throughout the week on campus…”

We cannot justify skipping out on worshiping in the local church because of the campus worship events that we lead or participate in…

We cannot justify not being a part of a local church congregation because we cannot find one that “fits” with everything we believe or desire…

We cannot justify it because we need it, our students need to see us in it, the local church needs it… and God requires it!

So: