Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.

Churches need to figure out how they will address the spiritual lives of their staffs and leadership teams.

I think a bishop who doesn't give offence to anyone is probably not a good bishop.

I am grateful for the men and women who pastor, who lead in churches across our country. Ultimately, their role of loving people and seeing hearts changed is probably the greatest calling.

Let us pray for all good and faithful priests who dedicate themselves to their people with generosity and unknown sacrifices.

Preachers are stewards whom the Lord has ‘set over his household servants to provide them with food at the proper time.’ After all the years the church has suffered under forceful preachers and winning orators, under compelling pulpiteers and clerical bigmouths with egos to match, how nice to hear that Jesus expects preachers in their congregations to be nothing more than faithful household cooks.

I served as a missionary for my church. I served as a pastor in my congregation for about 10 years. I’ve sat across the table from people who were - were out of work and worked with them to try and find new work or to help them through tough times.

When a leader in the Church inspires council members with vision, he helps them focus on their real mission so that they are ministering to people rather than merely administering programs.

The local church is the hope of the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders.

Pastoring the flock with words. I love that. We always have a prayer time in the middle of our service. We take about eight or ten minutes before I preach, after we've sung, and invite people to come forward for prayer. That's a tender moment to me. I don't preach much in that, but I like to speak to the people.

He that is more frequent in his pulpit to his people than he is in his closet for his people, is but a sorry watchman.

Many times when people leave churches we think it's a doctrinal issue, but most of the time it's a leadership issue.

God does not bestow his spirit on his people in order to set aside the use of his word, but rather to render it fruitful.

I continue to be a pastor who speaks to the people of God about the things of God.

As a leader it is your job to protect the missional integrity of the Jesus gathering to which you have been called. It is your responsibility to see to it that the church under your care continues as a gathering of people in process; a place where the curious, the unconvinced, the skeptical, the used-to-believe and the broken, as well as the committed, informed and sold-out come together around Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Inherent in the ordination to be bishop is both the right and the obligation to be directed by inspiration.

The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word

Alas for the unhappy man that is called to stand in the pulpit, and not give the bread of life.

There are several sources for my appreciation of pastors and the way they are described in this book. One of them is reading history and realizing that they had a profound creative impact on the Middle West and the settlement of the Middle West.

We preachers, people entrust us with their time week after week. I'm still stunned that people will let me talk to them for thirty minutes about anything I want to. It's a wonderful treasure that we are to steward.

The pulpit is a clergyman's parade; the parish is his field of active service.

Vision is something pastors and churches cannot afford to live without.

This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and He leads it. No assignment in it need ever overwhelm you if you know that and listen for the Master's voice.

I have a great staff at the church; they protect me and allow me to focus on more of what I do best.

Today, we need a Church capable of walking at people's side, of doing more than simply listening to them; a Church which accompanies them on their journey.