Faithful Presence Wherever You (and Your People) Are

Do the math and you'll find that most of your time, if you subtract sleep, is spent working, whether paid or unpaid work. If this is true of pastors and leaders, how much more so is it for the people you lead? In this episode of The Flourishing Pastor Podcast, Nelson explains and explores the concept of faithful presence as developed by scholar James Davison Hunter. He shows how the faithful presence approach to culture reflects a biblical model — with real-life implications for pastors and leaders. As the conversation unfolds, Nelson also addresses the importance of what he calls vocational discipleship, that is, preparing Christians for how and where they spend the majority of their lives.

Tom Nelson is the senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Kansas City, Kansas, and he's the president of Made to Flourish, a national nonprofit that works with churches and their leaders in the area of faith and work. You can learn more about Tom's work at www.madetoflourish.org, and you can find his new book, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership — which is the springboard for this podcast — wherever you buy books. 

***Get Free Books*** Christians often report that their churches don’t prepare them for the pressures, opportunities, or challenges of their daily work. At Made to Flourish, we call this the Sunday to Monday gap, an unhealthy divide that can blur our understanding of God’s work in the world — work we’re meant to join. To help close that gap, we want to mail you a collection of practical, theological books — completely free of charge. In this free box, you’ll also get the latest issue of the award-winning Common Good magazine, and for a limited time, Tom Nelson’s book, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership. So whether you’re a pastor or layperson, claim your free books at madetoflourish.org/box.