Mankato Report

by Crystal Maertens, Mankato, MN

Don and Cheri White have been teaching an awesome Pastoral Training class at Covenant Family Church for the last few weeks. When those classes were first announced one Sunday, we were asked to raise our hands if we were interested in attending. If I could have found a way to sit on my hands without looking really awkward, I would have. Pastor People was on my list of Things to Never Do: right between, Babysit Three Vomiting Children (again) and Wear Red. If you’ve grown up as a church kid, you’ve probably heard a phrase something to the tune of, “Leading is about being a servant first.” Somewhere along the way I realized that wasn’t just an overused saying… it was real. Pastoring people is HARD work. And I knew I would not enjoy it. I mean, people are annoying, and needy, and whiney. And most of the time, when they are being annoying and needy and whiney, it’s right in the middle of something else I’d rather be doing. I thought to myself, “Wow, I just do not have the pastoring grace.” As a side note, I have learned I am really selfish (marriage has taught me this as well…but that’s a whole different story).

These classes though, were completely not what I expected. And I think I can officially speak for everyone (since I spent Sunday after church interviewing everyone) when I say that we have been blown away by the richness and sheer “good stuff” we’ve encountered. When you get down to it, pastoring people on some level or another, is really unavoidable. The whole, “Love one another,” “Feed my sheep,” “Go into the world and preach the gospel”… well it all comes down to pastoring at some point. Don and Cheri have shared their wisdom in the most down to earth, man on the streets sort of way. These classes are about real life.  As Lin Crum put it, “You don’t have to necessarily be always ‘nicey, nicey’ to be a pastor. It takes all flavors to pastor all kinds of people.”

I can’t think of a single class that I didn’t immediately find an application for in the days following. In fact, at times I’ve felt like I was already in the lab for Pastoring 101 without realizing it. Words that have been used to describe this class are: profitable, meritorious, and rich. Andy Goettlicher shared how one class in particular made a big impact on his marriage, helping him and Carrie to break previous soul ties and grow their relationship. He also shared how a class hand out on Psalm 23 had helped him understand that Psalm for the first time.

Peggy Maertens says she has been learning more about how to better care for and meet the needs of people. Don Millican says he has really enjoyed gleaning from Don and Cheri’s depth of experience. And I really don’t think anyone could disagree with Jennifer Kneefe, “Don and Cheri have great God-given wisdom and it has been such a blessing to learn from them. Their personal testimonies have offered great insight into how to apply kingdom solutions to very difficult situations.”

But these classes aren’t just for us. Interestingly enough, at Covenant Family Church,  a lot of what we’ve been hearing from the pulpit, visiting ministers, prayer, and—well—everywhere, is that God is drawing us more and more outside of ourselves, to reach into our community. So, to Don and Cheri (or should I say Mr. and Mrs. Miyagi), keep on teaching us to “Wax on, wax off,” cause it’s working! And even though my arm muscles hurt a little… I’m still glad I didn’t sit on my hands that Sunday.