Editor’s note: When pastors needed a pastor, Renwick Wright was there. For several years he served the RPCNA in a position called Pastors’ Pastor. And he came away with a lot of insight about the challenges of being a pastor. Since this article fits so well with this month’s theme, we are reprinting this 2001 interview with Dr. Wright’s timeless advice.

Some people think pastors receive enough special treatment or appreciation in their own congregation. Do you find that pastors are underappreciated or overappreciated?

Actually, to me, it does depend largely on the pastor himself. Some of us have a rather inflated idea of who we are. We need to be brought down a little. Others of us rate ourselves less than how God has gifted us, and we need to be encouraged. In my experience, the Lord suits your circumstances in your congregation according to your need. People do understand the pastor’s need, and in Christian love they can help him, according to what that need is. I grew a great deal, particularly in my first pastorate—that, of course, because I got into a great deal of trouble being a young man and having my own ideas. Then all I had to do was drop into the driver’s seat of my car when gas was so much limited during the war, and I went to see my own dad, who had been a pastor for many years. He was the one who showed me how to be worthy of appreciation, because he has been that very much in his own life.

What do you see as the role of the pastor, and specifically, what are things about the pastor’s role that members can misunderstand?

Once again it depends upon the people, but the pastor’s role, first and foremost is that he is the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of all the ministries I know, the one with emphasis on service is that of the pastor. He is Christ’s servant; he is God’s bondslave, to use the Greek meaning. You can’t get anything stronger than that. And it is his duty to be always ready for whatever may happen. We don’t often get calls at 2:30 in the morning, but that does happen. And we have to be ready for that. At times there is a sudden need that arises when we have something special planned for the family. And that is when it is really very difficult. The question is, Do I go for the congregation? Do I go for the family? I’m the servant of Christ, and in this particular situation, what does He require me to do? And that’s the way I must go. It could be one way or the other, but that’s how I must approach it. I am Christ’s servant. Sometimes people don’t understand that, when a pastor may occasionally feel it’s his duty to put his family, for this one instance, before another less urgent need.…I found this a real difficulty in my own pastorate for a time, and I found it among the other pastors as well: the tendency to put too much emphasis on the congregation, and not enough on the home.

Some people misunderstand his role as a shepherd. I don’t know how many people who read the Witness have worked with sheep, but I do know that sheep need a lot of attention, and sheep need very special care at times, according to their needs. Some people feel the pastor is being too close to them, too inquisitive. But he’s doing this simply to know the need. If people realize that here is a man with a heart who loves the Lord, and who loves people, then they will gladly respond, and give him the help he needs to help them.

What do you see as the role of the congregation in their relationship with the pastor, and specifically what are things that members can do to help their pastor that they aren’t always aware of?

The role of the congregation is the same role as that of a pastor. All are servants of Christ. Members of the congregation, then, as the Lord’s servants, need to analyze their gifts, and see what the Lord requires them to do in the congregation. He will require of them as He has gifted them. And so it is for them, then, to talk over this matter of service in the church with the pastor.

In your experience, do pastors sometimes misunderstand what people in the congregation should be expected to do?

It depends on the pastor. There are some pastors who want to go it on their own. They’re not happy unless they are doing it themselves. And how much they miss! This is one thing I did come across occasionally—not very often, but occasionally—people who are naturally leaders, who would be inclined very often to do it themselves, or to drive instead of lead. My experience is that people don’t drive easily. But they will follow a gentle, strong leader.

Were you surprised by anything you came across as you were serving as pastor’s pastor?

Well, I can’t say I was surprised by anything, because, after all, Maureen and I had been in the pastorate from 1941 to 1993. During a length of years like that, you meet most things. You meet the challenges, and you meet the successes, and you remember that always there is a war on. That is what we really need to realize, pastors and congregation alike. We need to realize that this is war: Satan and his angels fighting against the Lord. What we need above everything else in any congregation is unity; a congregation that is bound together—with differences of opinion, divergences of opinion, even but united under one thing: What does the Lord require us to do? If I don’t agree with it, I’ll pray for it, and I’ll see what work I can do that would help it.

But above all, I have to be wholehearted in my desire for oneness in the congregation. So many of the times when I was asked to meet with pastors, it was to deal with this problem. Sometimes it was the pastor’s responsibility for what had happened. In that case there had to be a heart-to-heart talk with him, and he had to realize the mistakes that he had made, all very gently done. In one case at least, he made an open confession to the congregation. And there was a greater unity after that than there had been. And then in the other instances, there were people in the congregation who lacked the vision the pastor had. Sometimes even in the session there was a lack of vision that the pastor had. Then that had to be dealt with specifically by the session.

What do you think is the best way (if a member of a congregation has a difference of opinion with his or her pastor) for that person to approach the pastor to deal with the problem?

The pastor may have to go to him. But it’s better, every time, when that member lifts the telephone and says, “I need to talk with you. There’s something we need to talk about. When can we meet?” Let that member pray it through, spend a long time praying it through before the Lord, asking the Lord to search his own heart and see his own motives. Why is he differing? Why does he not see what the pastor sees? And then come in all honesty to the pastor and show him exactly where he stands and the reason why he stands that way. If the pastor is a pastor worthy of his status, he’ll respond.

What are some concrete and tangible ways that members can be of service and help to their pastors?

One thing I always appreciated was a good handclasp at the door, and a “thank you.” That of course is a small thing in itself, but it means a great deal. Another thing I’ve always appreciated is someone who is standing with me shoulder-to-shoulder in the work. That goes for men and women both. Particularly, it has been a great experience to me to help younger people who come to me and say, “Well now, I would like to serve the Lord.” I say to them, “OK. You’re going out with me, and I’m taking a group of the young people out down to the town square, and I’m going to preach, and you’re going to be there, and you’re going to join with them in the singing of the Psalms; and later on, when you’re able, I’ll ask you to stand up there and tell how the Lord brought you into His kingdom. That’s the sort of thing that you can do for me.” I’ve found that people really grew doing that kind of work.

Can you think of specific passages of Scripture that help to clarify the relationship between the pastor and the congregation, or the role of the pastor and the role of the congregation?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that, “You have my whole heart” (2 Cor. 6:11). When you read 2 Corinthians, you see Paul almost weeping over the trouble he’s having with that congregation. But he says, “You’ve my whole heart.” And that’s what we have to give as pastors to a congregation. There were times when I felt heartbroken over things, because people didn’t want to go that way. There were wrongs in the congregation that people refused to put right; wrongs in their individual lives. And that’s hard. But you still have your whole heart towards your people in your work for the Lord.

As regards the congregation, there is 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13: “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love, because of their work.” That sums it up. And then it’s interesting that he goes on to say, “Live in peace with one another.” That makes me think of Philippians 2: “If you have any encouragement in Christ, any consolation of love, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, doing nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (vv. 1-4). That’s what I’m getting at.

—Esther Howe was editorial assistant for the Witness at the time this article was first published in 2001. She is now a member of Christ (Providence, R.I.) RPC. She is a granddaughter of Dr. J. Renwick Wright (1918–2009).