Have you ever wondered what really goes on in a church to make it work? There is all the hard work, and where’s the money coming from? Today I’m going to interview my Pastor, Tony, and find out the best I can on: what made him get into pastoring, how the church can pay for the bills, and so much more.
Q: So how did you feel when you first got baptized?
A: When I got into the tank. I was scared because it was cold, but then I really, really got excited because I knew I was doing what Jesus said to do. So then, when I came up out of the water, I shook my head real fast and got my pastor wet.
Q: Why did you choose to be a pastor?
A: I didn’t really choose to be. God chose me like he woke me up in a dream and told me to go to Central Bible College so I could do pastoral studies. And I woke up crying and when I told Terry (his wife) she said, “I already knew, God told me a while back” God kind of told me you know in my early 20s and then God told her like way before when she was 5 years old that she would marry a preacher.
Q: Were you on a pathway to do a different job?
A: I really kinda was heading nowhere. I was doing stuff with music, I was playing with a band, I was working at a factory, and every once in a while I would travel with the band and we would go play like different places like different conferences or different churches and I would play the bass and sing with Charlie hall that’s what I was doing before I became a youth pastor.I was working a factory 40 hours a week making $5.25 an hour back then, I know it doesn’t sound like much but, back at that time it was pretty good because everyone else was making $3.50 an hour. But, it wasn’t very much in the big scheme of things, it wasn’t enough for me to live out on my own very well.
Q: What’s the best part about being a pastor?
A: Getting to be around people. If you’re a people person then getting to see people and talk to them.
Q: What’s the downside or something that you wish you would change?
A: Also people, cuz sometimes people don’t change and that’s really hard. You know they make choices and it’s important that you kind of keep your wits about you. Keep your faith in God because sometimes people in spite of the fact that they’ve seen God and have seen God work they still choose not to serve him sometimes and that’s really hard.
Q: What is your favorite bible verse and why?
A: I just love the Bible. There’s so many scriptures that are so good. I like that I’ve got a different package of the scripture that I like for different reasons. I like it if you’re walking through a situation where you’re fearful, you know I love the whole Philippians 4 passage that talks about peace and just having contentment and strength in Christ.
Q: What did you feel when you first preached in church?
A: The first time I ever preached in the main adult church I remember being so nervous that my hands were shaking so I couldn’t hold the microphone very well without the mic shaking. Also, my pastor wanted me to dress up in a suit and so that meant I had to wear dress shoes. I didn’t like dressing up so I remember that it added to my nervous discomfort. But, once I got going with the sermon, which was much shorter than I planned, I started to get more comfortable, so I started moving away from the pulpit a little, but at one point my dress shoe heel got caught on one of the stair edge trim pieces. I fell forward and tripped down the rest of the stairs. The congregation laughed. Even though it was so funny that they laughed at me, that didn’t help my confidence much. But several faithful people encouraged me afterwards, even though they continued to laugh at me. I was traumatized for a while, but I learned later to redirect my nervousness to the actual sermon. Funny thing is…every Sunday I still get a little nervous right before I walk up to the pulpit.
Q: How do you pay for things in the church?
A: The church the people in the church tithe and then they give some people give offerings above their tithes and everything that’s not missions goes into the general fund and then me and the church board every year sit down and determine how that money is gonna be smart so we have to pay bills with bills with some of it. We have to pay bills with some of it. We have to pay employees with some of it and then we pay for ministries with some of it.
Thank you Pastor for letting me interview you. I personally didn’t know that people in the church give you enough money to pay for things! So, if you would like to learn more about my church then go to Life Church. A website you could use is: lifechurchemporia.com (look for the black and white leaf logo)
