Daniel Moore (DMin, 2016) serves as the solo pastor at a midsized church in rural Pennsylvania. God has allowed Daniel to preach at that same church for twenty-one years. With God’s blessing, Daniel hopes to spend another twenty-one years preaching and building deep, lasting relationships with the people God has placed under his care.
Daniel, who knew he was called to preach, received his Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell. He then spent two years ministering overseas before moving back home to small-town Pennsylvania, spending another two years working in the same youth ministry where he had grown up. During that time, he wrapped up his ordination process and began searching for a church to pastor. His particular branch of Presbyterianism had a wonderful system that paired pastors and churches. During his second round of matchmaking, Daniel met his current congregation, only an hour and a half away from where he grew up.
How did a Presbyterian from Gordon-Conwell end up at Dallas Theological Seminary, you ask? After several years of preaching weekend after weekend, Daniel felt like his preaching was getting a little stale. He applied to the seminary and enrolled in the DMin because he knew Dallas produced good preachers. The program did not have a preaching cohort at the time, so Daniel cobbled together every preaching class the seminary offered. His studies awakened a renewed interest in preaching and gave him the tools to infuse his sermons with fresh life. Dr. Warren became his supervisor after Dr. Reed retired. Daniel also learned about the DISC assessment, which has proved a valuable tool for pastoral ministry as it gives him better insight into how people work.
Daniel ministered to his home congregation, studying for months, and then he would fly to Dallas for the week. During his stay in Dallas, Daniel would immerse himself in his preaching classes for eight hours a day. After class, Daniel would wander over to the Vietnamese restaurant on Peak Street, falling deeper in love with Pho, before camping out in the library for the evening. One time, when Daniel was studying by the large glass windows in the library, a single bird slammed the window and fell to the ground, startling him. Ten seconds later, fifty to a hundred birds smacked the window and fell to the ground. Don’t worry. No birds were permanently harmed in the making of his study session.
Daniel believes that, like marriage, God longs for his ministers to make long-term commitments, to stick it out with the people he has called them to serve. Like marriage, despite the ups and downs, you promise to stay. Maybe you need a break, sometimes an extended break. Maybe you step into a different role. Sometimes, staying proves impossible, which is a different situation; however, when you are called, if it is possible, at least stay until the ministry is going well. Leave behind a healthier congregation than the one you inherited. Live alongside your people through every season, learning and growing together even when growing pains show up.
When Daniel first started pastoring his church, it was fairly small, about eighty people. Around one hundred seventy-five to two hundred people now attend the church. The growth was slow: five people one year, eight people the next, and then four the year after that. That slow, incremental growth created space for deep relationships to grow, steadily and surely. In today’s age, people deeply long to experience the kind of relationship that proves steady and true. True relationships are so rare, and even more so with the clergy. We see them on stage and shake their hands, but often, we do not enjoy a relationship with them. For Daniel, those relationships are one of the benefits of sticking. Daniel also sees those relationships as increasing one’s sticking power. When things get rough, your people know, and they care. Notes show up, sometimes a casserole or an extra cup of coffee. Your back is covered, fortified by prayer.
Daniel enjoys the variety that comes with pastoral ministry. There are always new things to learn or skills to develop further. Twenty years ago, he was learning how to do communion and handle late-night hospital visits. Now, he is learning to work with others, cultivating church health across his presbytery. He also enjoys his travels overseas, teaching the Old Testament to pastors and church planters. He travels all over the world to places like Bolivia, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and India. The kindness of his church in allowing him longer periods to travel for cross-cultural ministry is made possible due partly to the longevity of his ministry at home. His long-term ministry experience at home enriches his travels, complementing the foundational education he received at Dallas Theological Seminary; he teaches from a good base combined with two decades of pastoral experience.
Conflict between church members is the most challenging thing. When people who love the Lord and seek to honor his name disagree and refuse to see that the other party also loves the Lord, that is the thing that drains Daniel’s heart and spirit and leaves him sleepless. That is when it is key to have those deep relationships with your people, not just the ones within the conflict, but with those outside the conflict. Your congregants can minister to you and encourage you when other members of God’s family are fighting. Overextension is another challenge. That is also a good time to have people around you who know you, care about you, and can share the load.
Our God is faithful. He never abandons us, not for a moment. He never changes, and he stays beside us through the ups and the downs. He delights to see us soak in the sunnier seasons, and he remains by our side when the rain refuses to go away. Because he stays, he proves his love over and over again. Our faithful God made us for faithfulness—to rest in his faithfulness and to display faithfulness to others. When Daniel first started pastoring, a fellow pastor, who was in his presbytery, was finishing up a lifetime of ministry. That pastor had served his congregation for thirty-nine years. He stuck it out through thick and thin, and his sticking power proved to his people that he valued them. Daniel attended that pastor’s retirement party, celebrating his long tenure with all the pastor’s congregants. Daniel respected him. He expressed that respect, telling the pastor that he would love to have a ministry like his, a ministry with longevity. There is no substitute for longevity and the long-lasting relationships that accompany it. Staying cultivates trust. Your people have seen you walking beside them through life’s challenges. They know that you have chosen to stay and that you will choose to stay as long as the Lord keeps that ministry for you. You will not leave because it is hard. If you do leave, you will leave because you are led. Daniel is blessed and pleased that God has allowed him twenty-one years to serve the same congregation. God heard his prayer for longevity and answered. Daniel is praying for another twenty-one years to open up God’s Word and to love his people.
Morgan E. Underwood (ThM, 2023) is an administrative assistant for the Alumni and Career Services Office at Dallas Theological Seminary. She is also a Theological Studies PhD student and writer. She is married to her husband, An, and they, along with their black cat, call Dallas home.
