Strengthening ministers to the glory of God

As we begin the month of May, we find ourselves between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. We rejoice in the hope of Christ’s resurrection. Like the apostles in the first-century church, we continue to proclaim the Easter message beyond Easter Sunday.

Pentecost Sunday (May 24) is the celebration of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the promised Third Person of the Trinity was sent to the gathered believers, empowering them for witness and mission. Luke tells us that, “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all” (Acts 4:33, NIV).

We have called Texas Baptists to a season of focused and united prayer between Easter and Pentecost Sundays. The message of the crucified and risen Lord needs to be proclaimed in word and action. Christ is the hope for Texas, for North America and the world.

We need the Holy Spirit’s power to be witnesses and to be on mission with God! We need to revive our passion for the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We need God’s Spirit to spiritually awaken every Baptist, every church and Texas Baptists as a whole!

Our Texas Baptists GC2 Strong strategy aims to both serve and collaborate with churches by helping them to consider and strengthen their Great Commandment and Great Commission practice. In practical terms, we want to encourage and equip churches to love God, love people and make disciples.

In order to accomplish this together, we see our role as strengthening churches, strengthening ministers and strengthening missions engagement. This week, we are praying for the strengthening of ministers. A GC2 Strong movement requires strong pastors and ministers.

This week, Barna published new research regarding pastors’ sense of calling and satisfaction in their role as ministers. Gloo reports that though the emotional strain among pastors has reached its lowest point in a decade and pastoral confidence has climbed back to 58% since the pandemic, vocational satisfaction among pastors has fallen.

“American pastors in 2026 are more emotionally resilient and confident in their calling than they’ve been in years – yet vocational satisfaction has quietly eroded to a decade-long low, with only 52% describing themselves as ‘very satisfied,’ down from 72% in 2015” (Gloo May Release). God is answering our prayers, but there is still room for growth.

So what does that mean for us? What can we do about this? We can continue to pray. That’s our focus this week. Pray fervently for our pastors to experience spiritual renewal. Encourage your pastor and fellow pastors. Offer support and encourage them to seek renewal and rest.

The Texas Baptists Counseling Services, under the direction of Olga Harris, served over 200 ministerial families last year. You may need to avail yourself of this ministry. I encourage you to reach out. You may need to encourage someone else to do so. All of us can continue to support this ministry through prayers and faithful Texas Baptists Cooperative Program giving.

Kevin Abbott leads the Texas Baptists Pastor Strong Cohorts. This year we have scaled up the number of cohorts and locations, including the Abilene area, Georgetown, Dallas, Houston, Longview and San Antonio. These intentionally selected cities cover areas in North Texas, West Texas, Central Texas, East Texas, and Southeast Texas, with 110 pastors involved overall.

While our large cities have bigger concentrations of churches and pastors, we recognize the need to form cohorts in rural areas of our state. As we minister to churches, pastors and missions, we strive to serve all the Texas Baptists' geographical areas by continuing to scale up this effort in the coming years.

If you have not been a part of one of these cohorts, you may want to consider joining one in 2027. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

Additionally, we have partnered with Mobberly Baptist Church in the Oasis in the Pines ministry. If you or a minister you know could benefit from a weeklong experience designed to strengthen ministers and spouses through intentional rest and renewal, this may be the place for you. If you are a vocational minister of a Texas Baptists church or ministry, you may qualify for a partial BGCT scholarship. Please contact Oasis in the Pines directly to learn more about this opportunity.

Together we can pray and work to strengthen pastors and ministers for the sake of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and to the glory of God!