“The suffering of ministry cannot be eliminated without eliminating the knowing. To be a pastor is to walk into the pain, not around it. To bear with people, not just teach them.”

“Presence—real presence—doesn’t allow for a work-based hiding. Presence requires me to show up as a person, not just a pastor. It requires vulnerability, attention, and a kind of pastoral courage that says: ‘I’m here with you. I see you. And I’m willing to let you see me too.’”

“A pastor cannot be a pastor without a people… Vocation begins with people, jobs begin with a task. We’re tempted to believe our calling is about what we do for people, but so much of the pastor’s vocation is about what we do with people.”

“I wasn’t being ‘useful’ in any measurable way… What I was doing—though I couldn’t have named it then—was pastoring. I was simply present with students, walking with them, praying with them, paying attention to what God might be doing in their lives.”