You Don’t Need a Pulpit to Make an Impact: What I Still Carry from Ministry

I met pastors and parachurch leaders who seemed to believe that the only real theme of ministry was getting people converted and discipled. It was often a numbers game—how many decisions were made, how many were baptized, how many were plugged into a Bible study. I know they meant well, but my approach was different. It wasn’t just about spiritual benchmarks—it was about the whole person.

Pastoring, for me, wasn’t about chasing conversions—it was about people. And not just their theology, but their stories, their wounds, their marriages, their burnout, their hopes, their questions.

It was rarely about simply asking, “Do you know Jesus?” and more often about asking, “How are you really doing?”

Ministry, at its deepest level, happens in the thick of despair, addiction, grief, shame, confusion, and exhaustion. And for many of the people I walked with, it wasn’t about growing in their faith as much as it was about experiencing it—learning to live unshackled by shame and guilt. Learning to trust that they were radically loved—not just by God, but by the people around them.

That’s the kind of ministry I still carry.
I’m no longer a pastor by title anymore, but the weight of that calling is still with me. The desire to help people thrive—not just spiritually, but fully. The longing to remind others they are seen, valued, and deeply loved.

What’s hard for me, even now, is not getting swept up in the pace of a life that only takes—that robs us of presence, of wonder, of compassion.

That is what I still try carry from pastoral ministry into my daily work and ordinary conversations.

If you’re stuck in a ministry role and don’t know how you could do something different vocationally, I want you to know this: you have so much to offer people around you, even without the title of pastor.

You have so many transferable gifts to serve, lead, listen, and love in powerful, meaningful ways.