The Pastor in the Middle: Recent Episodes
Fred Shackelford, Matt Crawford
The Pastor in the Middle is a podcast for pastors seeking to think through ministry issues with grace and nuance. Fred Shackelford and Matt Crawford both pastor in the Memphis area, Fred at Ellendale Baptist Church and Matt at Trinity Baptist Church. They often feel like they are in the middle, stuck between extreme positions on both sides. Can we find a balanced approach? That’s the goal of “Pastor in the Middle,” our new podcast.
Fred and Matt return from their podcast hiatus to (fittingly!) talk about - sabbaticals! Fred just took a sabbatical after 10 years of serving at Ellendale Baptist Church. Podcast episodes will now come on a monthly basis, but each individual episode should be longer. Thanks for listening!
[REPOST FROM EPISODE 34.]
Fred and Matt interview Pastor Reginald Taylor of The Rock Church in Memphis. Reginald is writing a PhD dissertation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on the doctrinal preaching of Adrian Rogers. In this first of a two-part series, Reginald discusses hermeneutical method.
Here is the link for Dr. Tom Schreiner's book mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Interpreting-Pauline-Epistles-Thomas-Schreiner/dp/080103812X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=interpreting+the+pauline+epistles+by+thomas+r.+schreiner&qid=1686631775&sprefix=interpreting+the+pauline+e%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1
And here is the link Dr. Schreiner posted online with the relevant chapter from his book:
http://d3pi8hptl0qhh4.cloudfront.net/documents/tschreiner/book_IPE_chapter6.pdf
Fred and Matt COMPLETE their PITM series on preaching through different genres of Scripture. In this final episode in the series, they dive into New Testament Prophecy - the book of Revelation. Please listen and share!
[REPOST FROM EPISODE 32 DUE TO SUMMER SCHEDULES.] Fred and Matt invite Dr. Gerson Garros, Associate Pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, onto the podcast to discuss his vision and experience leading international ministries in the city of Memphis.
Fred and Matt discuss short-term mission trips, which have been important and influential in their spiritual growth and their ministries. They talk through blessings, goals, and pitfalls to avoid in these types of mission endeavors.
[REPOST FROM EPISODE 27 due to summer traveling.]
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of effective sermon illustrations, as well as methods for collecting, tagging, and utilizing them.
Fred and Matt have one more discussion with Steve Reynolds, President Emeritus of Baptist Memorial Healthcare in the Mid-South. Baptist Healthcare is an explicitly Christian organization with many non-Christian employees, customers, and organizational partners. On this episode, Steve shares wisdom from his experience of living out his faith in this environment.
Fred and Matt continue their discussion with Steve Reynolds, President Emeritus and Senior Consultant for Baptist Memorial Healthcare in the Mid-South (23 hospitals in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi). Steve was President and CEO of Baptist Memorial Healthcare for 20 years. This is Part 2 of a two-part discussion on Christian leadership. Thanks for listening!
Fred and Matt sit down with Steve Reynolds, President Emeritus and Senior Consultant for Baptist Memorial Healthcare in the Mid-South (23 hospitals in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi). Steve was President and CEO of Baptist Memorial Healthcare for 20 years. This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion on Christian leadership. Thanks for listening!
Fred and Matt continue their series on preaching through different biblical genres. This week they discuss preaching through the Epistles of the New Testament.
Fred and Matt discuss creative preaching with Dr. Brian Carmichael, pastor of Holy Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis. Dr. Carmichael also serves as the Black Church Specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention and as a Dean at Union University's MCUTS campus in Memphis. Dr. Carmichael wrote a PhD dissertation on creative preaching, and he shares his insights in this episode. Thanks for listening!
For a second episode, Fred and Matt are joined by their friend, Dr. Brian Carmichael, pastor of Holy Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis. Dr. Carmichael also serves as the Black Church Specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention and as a Dean at Union University's MCUTS campus in Memphis. At Holy Temple, Dr. Carmichael followed his own father, who had been the founding pastor. This is part 2 of his story. Thanks for listening!
Fred and Matt are joined by their friend, Dr. Brian Carmichael, pastor of Holy Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis. Dr. Carmichael also serves as the Black Church Specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention and as a Dean at Union University's MCUTS campus in Memphis. At Holy Temple, Dr. Carmichael followed his own father, who had been the founding pastor. He tells his story over this and next week's episode. Thanks for listening!
Fred and Matt are continuing their series on preaching through different genres of Scripture. This week's episode is on preaching through the book of Acts, the New Testament historical book that shows the work of the Holy Spirit in birthing the Church.
Fred and Matt continue their mini-series on prayer. This episode expands to discuss how pastors - both in and out of the pulpit - can lead their churches to pray.
Fred and Matt begin a two-part series on prayer. This first part focuses on the personal prayer life of the pastor - although it is applicable to any Christian!
Fred and Matt discuss navigating relational conflict as a pastor - both when you are trying to help others reconcile, and when you need reconciliation with someone.
[REPOST FROM EPISODE 25 DUE TO OUR FAMILIES BEING ON SPRING BREAK.]
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of effective sermon illustrations, as well as methods for collecting, tagging, and utilizing them.
Fred and Matt discuss what they lead their churches to do during the Easter season, leading up to and including Easter Sunday.
Fred and Matt continue their series on preaching from different genres of Scripture, now moving into the New Testament. This episode covers preaching from the four Gospels.
Should pastors comment on every controversy of the day? Fred and Matt offer their own hot take on hot takes.
"Worship wars" is a contradiction in terms! Song selection and styles of worship should lead to mutual submission within the Body of Christ. In this episode, Fred and Matt discuss leading a congregation in worship through music.
Fred and Matt have one more episode with Dr. Mark Catlin of Union University! In this episode, we discussed theological education - especially for students who may not be able to utilize the traditional brick-and-mortar seminary approach.
PART 2: Fred and Matt continue the interview with their friend, Dr. Mark Catlin, on preaching from the Old Testament. Mark has a PhD in Old Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the Director of Union University's Master's of Christian Studies program in Memphis.
Fred and Matt interview their friend, Dr. Mark Catlin, on preaching from the Old Testament. Mark has a PhD in Old Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the Director of Union University's Master's of Christian Studies program in Memphis.
[This is Part 1 of an incredible discussion. Watch for Part 2 next week.]
[DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER IN OUR AREA, THIS IS A REPOST FROM EPISODE 23.]
Fred and Matt interview special guest Dean Inserra, founding and lead pastor of City Church Tallahassee (citychurchtallahassee.com). We discuss casting vision as leaders in the local church.
Fred and Matt continue their series of episodes on preaching different genres of Scripture. This episode covers the why and how of preaching Old Testament Prophetic passages.
Fred and Matt are joined by Jeff Jones, Baptist Collegiate Ministries Director at the University of Memphis, to discuss ministry to college students.
[REPOST DURING CHRISTMAS WEEK. New episodes return next week!]
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of prayer for the Christian in general and the pastor in particular. We share some helpful practices and things we've learned regarding personal and corporate prayer.
Fred and Matt discuss how leaders in pastoral ministry should evaluate each aspect of their own work.
Here's the link to the evaluation forms mentioned in the episode (which we also talked about in episode 17): https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/02/13/sample-evaluations-ministerial-and-support-staff-for-pastor-in-the-middle-podcast-episode-17-staff-development/
Fred and Matt return to their series on preaching from different biblical genres. This is the second of these episodes, and it covers the Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry.
Fred and Matt discuss what is best for the pastor to do (other than preaching) during the important hours on Sunday morning.
Fred and Matt discuss worship services, sermons, and activities during the Christmas season - one of the most pivotal times of the year for churches.
[REPOST from episode 17, due to our holiday schedules the week of Thanksgiving. We should be back with a new episode next week!]
Fred and Matt discuss the why and the how of strategies for developing church staff members.
Sample staff evaluations mentioned on the podcast can be found at the link below. One is for ministerial staff, and the other is for support/administrative staff.
https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/02/13/sample-evaluations-ministerial-and-support-staff-for-pastor-in-the-middle-podcast-episode-17-staff-development/
Fred and Matt discuss the why and the how of building community among staff and church leaders.
Fred and Matt begin a recurring series on preaching from different genres of Scripture. This episode discusses preaching Old Testament narrative. Make sure you listen for that new part of the story of David and Goliath!
Fred and Matt discuss bringing in outside speakers, artists, and other special initiatives.
Fred and Matt interview Stephen Robert, the Chief Operating Officer of One More Child (onemorechild.org). Among many other ministry objectives, One More Child helps survivors of human trafficking. The episode deals with how individual pastors and churches can join in the fight against this evil.
Fred and Matt discuss elements for a worship service and the order in which they are placed.
Fred and Matt discuss the time involved in preaching - both in sermon prep and in sermon delivery.
Fred and Matt welcome Mitch Martin to the podcast. Mitch is the Director of the Mid-South Baptist Association (midsouthbaptist.com). This episode covers the blessings, benefits, and missional impact of pastors and churches cooperating together.
Fred and Matt discuss an important aspect of pastoral ministry: visiting people in the hospital.
In Part 2, Fred and Matt discuss more steps you should consider taking as you begin serving in pastoral ministry - regardless of the type of pastoral role. This episode covers more of things to do once you have actually started in a ministry role.
Fred and Matt discuss some of the first steps you should consider taking as you begin serving in pastoral ministry - regardless of the type of pastoral role.
Fred and Matt have Pastor Ben Cowell on the podcast to discuss moving from a large metro area to a pastorate in a small town. Ben Cowell is from Memphis, Tennessee, but he recently transitioned to be the senior pastor at Brownsville Baptist Church in Brownsville, Tennessee.
Fred and Matt interview Dr. Billy Daws, who works with PastorCare (https://www.pastorcare.org/) - a ministry focused on walking with pastors through the difficulties of ministry. Dr. Daws has over 50 years of ministry experience and has a passion for shepherding the shepherds.
Following their episode last week on weddings, Fred and Matt discuss the pastor's ministry through funerals.
[REPOST from ep. 11] Fred and Matt discuss their processes for planning preaching, both for individual messages and series. The "Series Map" that Fred and Matt discuss can be found here: https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2022/12/31/series-map-example-for-pastor-in-the-middle-podcast/
Fred and Matt discuss finishing well in ministry with Dr. Richard Hipps, the Pastor Emeritus at Trinity Baptist Church (where Matt currently serves). Richard served for 17 years at Trinity.
Fred and Matt recap the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
[REPOST FROM EPISODE 8] Fred and Matt discuss the pastor's first ministry responsibility.
New episodes resume next week, July 11!
PART TWO: Fred and Matt interview Pastor Reginald Taylor of The Rock Church in Memphis. Reginald is writing a PhD dissertation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on the doctrinal preaching of Adrian Rogers. In this second of a two-part series, Reginald discusses homiletical method.
Fred and Matt interview Pastor Reginald Taylor of The Rock Church in Memphis. Reginald is writing a PhD dissertation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on the doctrinal preaching of Adrian Rogers. In this first of a two-part series, Reginald discusses hermeneutical method.
Here is the link for Dr. Tom Schreiner's book mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Interpreting-Pauline-Epistles-Thomas-Schreiner/dp/080103812X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=interpreting+the+pauline+epistles+by+thomas+r.+schreiner&qid=1686631775&sprefix=interpreting+the+pauline+e%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1
And here is the link Dr. Schreiner posted online with the relevant chapter from his book:
http://d3pi8hptl0qhh4.cloudfront.net/documents/tschreiner/book_IPE_chapter6.pdf
Raising up new ministry leaders in the church is part of discipleship and accomplishing the church's mission. In this week's episode, Fred and Matt discuss ways of raising up new leaders in the church.
Fred and Matt invite Dr. Gerson Garros, Associate Pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, onto the podcast to discuss his vision and experience leading international ministries in the city of Memphis.
Fred and Matt discuss wrestling to discern God's will, for Christians in general and pastors in particular.
When kids follow Jesus, they should be treated as full church members. Fred and Matt think through involving kids in church life.
Two books mentioned in the episode:
1) https://www.amazon.com/Guard-Preventing-Responding-Child-Church/dp/1939946514/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BE49YEWE6OGE&keywords=reju+on+guard&qid=1684185874&sprefix=reju+on+guard%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1
2) This one is FREE on Kindle right now: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Church-that-Cares-Abused-ebook/dp/B07SKM7PGN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=becoming+a+church+that+cares+well+for+the+abused&qid=1684185895&sprefix=becoming+a+church+that+cares%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-1
Fred and Matt discuss ways to show the light of Christ and the gospel through community involvement - both as individuals and as churches.
On March 31, 2023, a historic tornado outbreak occurred across the Mid-South, doing particularly devastating damage in Covington, Tennessee. In this episode, Fred and Matt interview their friend Cliff Marion, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Covington, about the doors of ministry that the Lord opened in the aftermath of those storms.
Evangelism and discipleship go hand-in-hand. In this episode, Fred and Matt talk through ideas for building a culture of discipleship within the local church.
Here's the link to an article (referenced in the episode) that Matt wrote for LifeWay Research in 2020: https://research.lifeway.com/2020/06/04/how-to-avoid-sacrificing-evangelism-for-discipleship-and-vice-versa/
Fred and Matt discuss the church's ordination processes and ceremonies - both for deacons and for pastors.
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of effective sermon illustrations, as well as methods for collecting, tagging, and utilizing them.
Fred and Matt discuss a recent Barna study on pastor's satisfaction in ministry, and then how pastors can find joy in the gift God has given them in ministry.
Fred and Matt interview special guest Dean Inserra, founding and lead pastor of City Church Tallahassee (citychurchtallahassee.com). We discuss casting vision as leaders in the local church.
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of theological education for the pastor, as well as pros and cons of different methods of getting that education.
Fred and Matt discuss the importance of prayer for the Christian in general and the pastor in particular. We share some helpful practices and things we've learned regarding personal and corporate prayer.
Fred and Matt discuss the biblical role of deacons in the church, as well as ideas on recruiting and developing deacons.
Fred and Matt continue their 2-week discussion of the ordinances. This week they address baptism.
Fred and Matt start a 2-part series on the ordinances, including a discussion of the concept of theological triage. This week covers the Lord's Supper, with baptism coming next week.
Here's a link to the Lord's Supper document Matt uses with his deacons when they take the Lord's Supper to shut-in or homebound church members: https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/02/20/communion-for-the-homebound-guide/
Fred and Matt discuss the why and the how of strategies for developing church staff members.
Sample staff evaluations mentioned on the podcast can be found at the link below. One is for ministerial staff, and the other is for support/administrative staff.
https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/02/13/sample-evaluations-ministerial-and-support-staff-for-pastor-in-the-middle-podcast-episode-17-staff-development/
Fred and Matt discuss the pastor's reading and the building of a pastoral library.
Resources mentioned in the show:
1) LibraryThing.com - a personal library database
2) Daniel Akin's "Building a Theological Library" - https://www.danielakin.com/pdf-download-building-a-theological-revised-edition-2019/
3) Bestcommentaries.com - recommendations and rankings of Bible commentaries (Matt accidentally said ".net" on the episode. It's ".com")
4) Thomas Schreiner's New Testament commentary recommendations: https://www.9marks.org/article/recommended-new-testament-commentaries-for-evangelical-pastors/
5) Desiring God Commentary Recommendations: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-commentaries-does-dg-recommend
Fred and Matt follow up on their two episodes about pastor search processes with an episode about how to walk through your first year in a new pastorate.
Fred and Matt work through Part 2 of their two-part series on pastor search committees (which is also relevant for ministerial position searches). This second episode is addressed to the candidate. Again, a sample theological and ministry questionnaire for these kinds of searches can be found here: https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/01/08/sample-theological-and-ministry-questionnaire/
Fred and Matt work through Part 1 of two episodes on search committee processes. This first episode is geared to the members of search committees. You can find a sample theological questionnaire for search committees to use here: https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2023/01/08/sample-theological-and-ministry-questionnaire/
Fred and Matt discuss their processes for planning preaching, both for individual messages and series. The "Series Map" that Fred and Matt discuss can be found here: https://sermonillustr8r.wordpress.com/2022/12/31/series-map-example-for-pastor-in-the-middle-podcast/
Fred and Matt discuss how they biblically and practically flesh out rest in the life of the pastor.
Fred and Matt discuss addressing difficult topics as a pastor, both from the pulpit and on social media.
Fred and Matt discuss what it means to be a pastor doing ministry in the middle of your congregation.
Fred and Matt interview their friend and co-laborer in Memphis, Pastor Shun Abram, about the spiritual life of the pastor. Shun is the founding and lead pastor of Binghampton Community Church in Memphis, as well as the Director of the SEND Relief Ministry Center in the Raleigh area of Memphis.
Link to sermon by Dr. Donald Whitney at Southern Seminary, mentioned by Matt in the episode: https://equip.sbts.edu/chapel/chapel-fall-2005/the-almost-inevitable-ruin-of-every-minister-and-how-to-avoid-it/