The church campus where I’ve served for the past twelve years is incredibly beautiful. Everything is kept nice and up to date, the grass is freshly mowed, and the outside walls shine with a clean coat of paint. First-time guests consistently comment on the freshness of our facilities; however, very few guests ever saw the “Cave of Wonders.” The Cave of Wonders was a friendly name one of our ministry assistants gave to the massive “backstage” storage room.
The plan is to eventually expand our Children’s Ministry upstairs into this enormous room, but for now, it is a massive space filled with…everything. It looks as if nothing has been thrown away during the entire life of the church. Look hard enough, and you’ll find old equipment, folding chairs, VBS props, decorations from Christmas past, and an entire corner dedicated to 20-plus carnival games a construction genius in our church built for local schools to use. Not only is it packed, but because it is not finished, there are no lighting fixtures. One giant room…no order…no light…only chaos. You can barely walk through the intended paths, and, God forbid, you need something that might be up there after the sun has gone down.
Most pastors are very good at presenting our congregations with what we want them to see, it’s our “Front Stage.” It’s our family all together, smiling like a Christmas photo op every Sunday morning. It’s the fruit of the hours put into preparing a sermon when we stand on a stage, opening the Word and dropping seminary knowledge on people who often only have an elementary understanding of Scripture. It’s the wise counsel we are asked for in meetings or one-on-one conversations. It is what everyone sees on our church website and our social media accounts. We know how to present a beautiful front stage to the public…but our wife and kids live and breathe in what we keep backstage, hidden from the crowds.
Thinking about cleaning out the “backstage” at our church was overwhelming to me. It was far too much for one person to tackle and so it remained out of sight, out of mind for years. It wasn’t until one of my associate pastors came alongside me and offered to order a trash container, invite people to join us, and clean out what we could for a couple of hours on a Saturday. Six or seven different weekends throughout the year and four overflowing 40-yard dumpsters later, our backstage looks well organized and is no longer the scary place to visit that it once was.
Do you have a team of trusted people helping to keep your backstage in shape?
Besides my work with Matthew 5:9 Fellowship, I also work with PastorServe, a coaching organization. Instead of talking about pastors living in a fishbowl (though there is some truth in that analogy), we talk about the “front stage and the backstage” of the pastor’s life. I’d love to come alongside and help you sort through that chaos. Please reach out.
Dean Kuest
This is not a typical bio I would use to introduce myself to strangers, but ministry is often where we present our best on the “front stage” and hide the dirt “backstage.” Like social media, it is easy to produce the stuff that makes us look great, but I long for relationships that are real…so here is my “honest” bio.
I am a husband of 33 years to my beautiful wife, Leslie. I am a pastor and a PK who raised five PKs (all boys). I am now Pops to five grandchildren (four girls in there – finally). I have a great relationship with my parents and my boys. I’m so proud of each of them.
I am an example of failure—I have put my work above my wife for many years. I have never had an affair, but the church has been my mistress at times. Leslie has been gracious, and we have worked through those wounds and scars. We are an example of perseverance, and I am so grateful for the love we nurture.
I was blessed to be rooted in one church in the Phoenix area for 25 years. I was blessed to be uprooted and lead a church plant in the Seattle area for eight years. I have climbed the ladder of leadership in an exceptionally large church. And I have been humbled by a complete loss of confidence at the end of my time in Seattle.
I sought help and learned several things about myself.
I tried to do everything myself and had poor stress management.
I have ADD and need strategies and medication to deal with it.
I had a hormone imbalance that contributed to my anxiety.
Thirteen years later, I continue to learn about those strategies and how to tap into the support I need.
I was one of the original nine pastors who met together in 2018 to dream the dream that has become the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship. I am passionate about the Gospel, the love and grace of Jesus, and I long to be a peacemaker in a polarized world. I have learned to be honest about what God has gifted me to do and where my abilities fall short.
I like to build and create. I don’t like to maintain. I have always had great people skills, but I am a poor administrator and event organizer. I lead with grace because I know I have needed it throughout my life and ministry. I am not always good at giving myself grace because I have a VERY LOUD inner critic who is very opinionated and always self-effacing. I am a gifted coach and mentor and connect well with younger generations of pastors.
I would love to come alongside you as a coach. As a reminder, the first session is free, and the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship will pay for two more.
Shoot me an email if that is something you would like to explore.
This is not a typical bio I would use to introduce myself to strangers, but ministry is often where we present our best on the “front stage” and hide the dirt “backstage.” Like social media, it is easy to produce the stuff that makes us look great, but I long for relationships that are real…so here is my “honest” bio.
I am a husband of 33 years to my beautiful wife, Leslie. I am a pastor and a PK who raised five PKs (all boys). I am now Pops to five grandchildren (four girls in there – finally). I have a great relationship with my parents and my boys. I’m so proud of each of them.
I am an example of failure—I have put my work above my wife for many years. I have never had an affair, but the church has been my mistress at times. Leslie has been gracious, and we have worked through those wounds and scars. We are an example of perseverance, and I am so grateful for the love we nurture.
I was blessed to be rooted in one church in the Phoenix area for 25 years. I was blessed to be uprooted and lead a church plant in the Seattle area for eight years. I have climbed the ladder of leadership in an exceptionally large church. And I have been humbled by a complete loss of confidence at the end of my time in Seattle.
I sought help and learned several things about myself.
-
I tried to do everything myself and had poor stress management.
-
I have ADD and need strategies and medication to deal with it.
-
I had a hormone imbalance that contributed to my anxiety.
Thirteen years later, I continue to learn about those strategies and how to tap into the support I need.
I was one of the original nine pastors who met together in 2018 to dream the dream that has become the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship. I am passionate about the Gospel, the love and grace of Jesus, and I long to be a peacemaker in a polarized world. I have learned to be honest about what God has gifted me to do and where my abilities fall short.
I like to build and create. I don’t like to maintain. I have always had great people skills, but I am a poor administrator and event organizer. I lead with grace because I know I have needed it throughout my life and ministry. I am not always good at giving myself grace because I have a VERY LOUD inner critic who is very opinionated and always self-effacing. I am a gifted coach and mentor and connect well with younger generations of pastors.
I would love to come alongside you as a coach. As a reminder, the first session is free, and the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship will pay for two more.
Shoot me an email if that is something you would like to explore.
