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2012
Failure: The F Word of Ministry
An article by 
Last year J.R. Briggs and a team of others launched the Epic Fail Pastor’s Conference. Realizing the need to deal with our failings and woundings in ministry in a healthy, non-perfect environment the conference allowed pastors (and recovering pastors) the opportunity to be honest, vulnerable, and hopeful with one another, themselves, and the Holy Spirit. I asked J.R. to share a little of the story behind the conference with us. Read through to the end to see how you can go for free.
I’m convinced God seems to do his best stuff in the midst of the messes.
As pastors, we’ve probably preached on this, encouraged others in this and seen it happen in the lives of people in our churches. But have we ever actually acknowledged our own messes and had the courage to work through that head-on?
A few years ago, I had an epiphany – or, so I thought. The epiphany was this: I fear failure. But the more I sat with that – and processed this further with a counselor – the more I realized I was wrong. What I feared was rejection. But after a few more sessions with my counselor I realized I was wrong again. I came to the conclusion that what I fear most is shame – shame that comes when I am rejected by others when I have failed. I came to understand that this failure-rejection-shame cycle dominates my thoughts, feelings and actions every day and I was in desperate need of freedom.
So many pastors experience shame – and sadly, much of the time, we don’t actually deal with it. We push it down, we stuff it, we medicate it, we veil it in spiritual language or secretly hide our sins in the darkness. Shame has a converse effect: the more we talk about our shame, the less we experience it and the less we talk about our shame, the more we experience it.
It’s for this reason we developed an incredibly ironic idea: hosting an Epic Fail Pastors Conference. We wanted to create a space for pastors (starting with me) to address their failure, their rejection and their shame through the lens of the gospel. The purpose was not to create a moan and groan session, but to create a hope-filled space where we could share our pain and also share how God loves us anyway and that He can actually use losers, failures and screw-ups like you and me.
The entrance exam to the Christian life is not success; it is an admission of our failure. So why are we so afraid to admit it to one another? The Epic Fail Pastors Conference is a place to process that question – and to practice the courageous act of talking about our failures with other courageous men and women who want to grace to get in their collective bloodstream sand not just keep it as some theological abstract concept.
Because we’re convinced that God does his best work in the midst of the messes.
Did you go to the first Epic Fail Pastor’s Conference? Do you want to go this year? Share your story of how God moved last year, or why you want to go this year below and we will send you! Comment by noon eastern on Monday, February 6 and Church Simple will cover the cost of a random commenter’s admission to the conference…
About the Author: J.R. Briggs
J.R. Briggs serves as Cultural Cultivator of The Renew Community a Jesus community for skeptics and dreamers in Lansdale, PA – a suburb of Philadelphia, which he helped start. He is the founder of Kairos Partnerships, an initiative that seeks to partners with leaders, pastors and church planters during significant kairos moments in ministry. As part of his time with Kairos Partnerships, he serves on staff with The Ecclesia Network and Fresh Expressions U.S.
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