Earlier this week Peter, Krista Vossler, David Taylor, and I went on retreat with clergy from the C4SO churches in the Austin area. We were led by Don Lewis, a professor at Regent College, who facilitated a series of discussions about influential pastors in church history.

I noticed a theme throughout the retreat: the pastors we learned about had significant ministries in large part because of the support of the people around them. We would never have heard of St. Augustine apart from the prayers of his mother, Monica. The global reach of John Stott was made possible because of his partner-in-ministry, Frances Whitehead.

This same dynamic was reflected in the lives of the participants on our retreat. During our times of prayer and conversation, our spouses were getting kids ready for school, making meals, doing dishes, and braiding their daughter’s hair for ballet (shout out to Blake).

It’s individual figures who are celebrated in church history, but there is no such thing as a solitary pastor, preacher or leader. It’s the communities and support systems of which they are a part that make them what they are.

During Morning Prayer on Tuesday, we offered this prayer for the mission of the church. With a slight addition, it sums up the spirit of our gathering:

Almighty and everlasting God, who alone works great marvels: Send down upon our clergy [their families and friends] and the congregations committed to their charge the life-giving Spirit of your grace, shower them with the continual dew of your blessing, and ignite in them a zealous love of your Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Nick