Allow Time To Find Your Voice

The other day a friend sent a questionnaire out to ministers (mainly current or former youth ministers) concerning advice they would offer to ministers in their first year. I ran out of time before I was able to respond, even though I said I would, so this is me offering advice.

I have been in ministry for ten years, eight of which was spent as a youth minister and these past two as senior pastor. Overall ministry is quite simple. You plan events, worship services, make visits, counsel others, study, sometimes you get to play (if you are a children’s or youth minister, and that is a true stereotype), you write sermons, preach, teach, bury, and marry people. On the outside it is a simple job in theory.

I absolutely love what I do. There are days that it is a struggle but struggles are a truth in life, there is no such thing as a perfect job, overall though I wake up in the mornings and I am excited that I get to minister to people. I enjoy the aspects of my job and I do not find them difficult. My personality type lends me to enjoy the day to day operations of the church that include sitting behind a computer typing and spending an hour with a church member talking about life. The one struggle I have though, and I think this is true of many, is I am still trying to find my voice as a preacher. I learned my style of ministry a long time ago and discovered how it works for me, yet as a preacher I am still trying to find my voice. Thus my advice to first time pastors, youth pastors, children pastors, associate pastors, etc. is this: Allow time to discover your voice and allow time for your voice to change.

Joseph Gordon Levitt made his directorial debut “Don John” last month. He has received wondrous praise for his writing and performance, the only constant critique is he is still trying to find his voice as a director. If you watch the movie, you can tell Levitt is a student of film and paid attention to the acclaimed directors he has worked with over the years, for he blends in some many different styles and similar voices it is hard to distinguish which voice is his or which is Christopher Nolan’s. It’s a common theme among first time directors. They struggle at first to find their unique voice but eventually by the film’s end, one voice has emerged.

I believe the same is true for ministers. My bookshelf is full of different voices and several have impacted me deeply, becoming a part of my own unique voice. The struggle in ministry is allowing time for ministers to find their unique voice. Many churches are not patient with young ministers. They expect them upon graduating seminary to have found their voice and they become concern when their minister’s voice changes. The irony is, like adolescences, we are never through growing as ministers and our voice is going to change. Some days it will be high and squeaky, other days it will low and authoritative, the point is we need time to allow ourselves to find our unique voice.

For three years I have been preaching and as I look back on my earlier sermons I can see a change in my voice. I can see influences coming and going and some sticking. I can see my voice raise or lower in tone. I can see growth in my voice and I believe I am almost there in terms of finding my voice. I am, at the very least, in the vicinity of my unique pastoral voice. But here’s the funny thing, I know as soon as I find my voice, it is going to change again. Something will come along and inspire my voice to grow and my church will need to find patience as it continues to grow.

My advice for ministers is to listen, pray, study, and observe the voices in ministry all around you. Allow yourself to be captivated by their voice and discover for yourself how unique your own voice is. Do not be afraid to emulate other voices. Allow them to inspire you but allow yourself time to discover your own voice. Do not be in a rush to be the next so and so. Be you. 
That is my advice. Be you and your voice will come.