Cal A. Richards
CHMN 201-D13
11/28/2016
Church Leadership and Ministry Evaluation Paper
For this paper, I interviewed Pastor Keith Thornton of Thomas Temple Church of God, Gretna
LA.
1.Would you say that your congregation (or the people within your particular
department or area of ministry) is “Living Out the Mind of Christ” (i.e. Unity,
Humility, Selflessness) as they interact, serve, and minister to/with each other? How
specifically do you as a ministry leader teach, cultivate, and maintain “The Mind of
Christ” in your area of ministry?
Yes and No, I say this because I can only speak from the point of knowing some of them. It is
very difficult to answer yes for the entire congregation, because I do not see them all, and all of
them do not attend the weekly services. I do get into the community and meet many of the
people that attend, but some of the members live a great distance away. The members that attend
weekly services and those who work in the ministry here is a very humble and caring group, they
seem to always put the needs of others before themselves. A great job is being done by the
church getting into the community by giving back to the people. Some of the ministries we have
are a pre-youth group ages 10-16, youth group 17-20 years of age, and the women’s and men’s
group. A combination of these groups has taken Thanksgiving baskets to families and the elderly
in the community, and the local police department donated 24 Thanksgiving baskets to the
church to hand out to people in the community and the church. This is just one way the love of
Christ is being shown to others in the church and the community, this also allow the ministries to
witness to those who do not know the Lord.
2.Would you consider yourself a “Wounded Healer?” Also, would you please share an
example where you have ministered to a person who is/was “wounded” in the same
manner that you once were? (cf. II Corinthians 1:3-5)
I think just showing the love of Christ to anybody is a way of comforting the people and
attempting to heal the wounds they may have. The scriptures say the poor you will always have,
and that’s not speaking of money, because one can have everything they need and still be poor.
As a boy, my parents did not have much and we live very poor, though I did not think of us as
being poor. Because of the way, I grew up I did my best to help others who were in similar
situations as I was. I have always talked to those who seem to be struggling regardless of their
living condition. I believe that all people need to not only see the love of God in action but
experience this love by hearing the word of God from people who have experienced life as they
are at this present time.
3.How specifically does the Holy Spirit help guide you as you lead/serve in your
ministry? Also, can you give a specific example of how you were able to clearly
recognize that the Holy Spirit was helping/guiding you in dealing with a particular
situation and/or decision while in your ministry? What advice would you give me
that, if I obeyed, would assure me that I would be able to be guided by the Holy
Spirit in my life and/or ministry?
I will say that as I accepted Christ in my life, I also received the Holy Spirit. The bible say,
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things
to come, (John 16;13, KJV). With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I know how to listen to Him
as I ask God to lead me. There was a time when I wanted to do help people and I went about it
on my own way, thinking it would be a success and later I found out it was a complete failure. I
know this because someone once told me, did you seek God before you took on this task, my
reply was no. That person said to me, you will almost always fail without seeking God first. It
was like a light going off in my mind, at that time I realized I could do nothing without the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. I them prayed to God to guide me in my endeavor. The Holy Spirit
spoke to me and told me to listen closely and I will tell you what to do. So, I did and know it was
the Spirit of because I never failed again all that I do now I ask God to guide me in my ministry.”
As a leader, the strongest advice I would give you if you are going into the ministry, take the
advice of the older Christians they have far more experience than you do. When you asked that
question it reminded me of (2 Chronicles 10:8, KJC) Rehoboam did not take the advice of the
older men, and caused a disaster. Most importantly seek God in all that you do. Always
remember the people you are leading is God’s people, never over look them and always pray.
4.Do you have a personal philosophy (i.e. an agreed upon plan of
action/policy/understood protocol) of how/when/where you confront sin in the lives
of 1) co-ministers/co-leaders in your ministry, and 2) people to whom you minister?
If so, what is it? How did you come to this philosophy? If not, do you see a need for
such a philosophy? Why or Why not?
My philosophy when confronting the sin of a leader is to talk to the person one-on-one and
make them aware of what it is they have done or doing. This must always be done in private,
these cases must be handled with care to avoid embarrassing the person. As a co-minister or
leader, we set the standards in Christianity. The people see us a spiritual advisors
and teachers so we must always live the life of what we teach and preach about. This hold true
not only for the leaders but also for the members of the church. Sin must be dealt with regardless
of who commits it, there are times when it must be handled openly you must allow God to lead
you as to how to handle it, every case if different.
All of this came to the for front when I had to deal with someone who’s parents came to me,
and informed me of a Deacon who was making sexual comments to a young boy and gave him a
book on homosexuality. This Deacon was with this boy one night in bed and the boy’s parents
reported it to me. I had to inform the authorities of this, which was not easy but it had to be done,
because I had knowledge of it. All this was done after talking to the parents not the young adult
because was under age. I set my philosophy after this, I was young in the ministry at the time this
happened. It is important to the wife knew about. I had to report it to the authorities, so the y
could take it from there.
I see sin as sin regardless of who it is. There are times when the person must be exposed openly
without calling the individual’s name. Therefore, you should always get to the all
those who come to worship in the church. The bible states, know them that labor with you in
the ministry to include the members of the congregation to include the member of the music
ministry.
5.Can I perform a little ministry quiz on you? (Remember: This question is taken from
the section within chapter 25 entitled “Recalling Encounters with God!”)
a.Can you recall for me what you specifically did (i.e. tasks performed, people
you talked to, the number of hours of service) on any individual day in your
ministry approximately six weeks ago?
I recall there was a time when I had to talk to an individual of the congregation who lost a
love one. As I sat with them to consul them, I could see in their faces a sense of relief in knowing
that this is a part of life that must take place and they seemed relieved after talking with them.
This took several hours afterwards I went home and asked God to comfort them in a way I could
never do. This is one of the most difficult things a minister I have ever done and it is still
difficult, I just ask God to led me into what to say. It is much easier when you and the family know
the person was dedicated to serving the Lord. Therefore, I always impress upon members and
visitors alike to accept Christ as their Savior. It just makes these typed of counseling much easier
for me as a minister of the gospel. So now after service I visit those who did not come to service,
to let them know I missed them in service and to get the reason for them not attending service
that day. I even call those in whom I have not seen for a while, which I find to be very productive.
b.Can you recall any time in the past that you were either so moved by hearing
a sermon, reading a bible verse, hearing a testimony of a someone’s salvation
that made such an impact upon your life that you still have a vivid recollection
of the event today? How long ago did that spiritual event take place?
Yes, there are several occasions when this have happened to me. About six months ago, I
person gave a testimony about how God raised him from the dead when his heart stopped
beating. This gave me an assurance that God can do anything. To restore life back to a person
who was pronounced dead by the doctors. The family knew that their son, and brother was gone
from them, and that God called him home. A few minutes later the pastor went into the hospital
and prayed for him and the family. Then suddenly he was awoken by God, this was so moving to
me that I could do nothing but way praise God for the miracle He had performed for the family
and the person. This person love the Lord so much now and will never go back to the old life
6.As a minister, are you ever tempted to become competitive with either a fellow
minister or a neighboring ministry or covet the “success” or resources of other
ministers and/or ministries? How do you overcome this temptation in your life
if/when it ever comes up in your heart? What advice would you give me to make
sure I remain content with what God specifically has for me in my own life and/or
ministry?
I must say yes, it is a Godly jealousy, because I see things they are doing in their ministry, that
I’m not doing. This is what happened to the Jews that rejected Jesus Christ, when the Gentiles
was crafted in, God provoked the Israelites to a Godly jealousy that some might be saved, I feel
this way that I might do better. It is never a temptation to be like any other church. I fell that I’m
never in competition with another church. We have grown from about 50 to 300 and I’m looking
for God to increase it by more. Membership is not about competition between churches, though
c.Could you briefly describe for me how your daily “Quiet time with God” or
your “Communion time with God” or “Your Devotion time with God”
usually goes?
Normally I start my day of with prayer, before I go anywhere. I always sit and pray before
any type studying I do in preparation for my sermons, counselling or visits. I then began to ask
God to show me what it is that He want me to study, and He does. This time is very precious to
me, because I want to be led by the Spirit of God, that way I will not make any mistakes.
Afterwards I make phone calls to the members selectively of course to find out is everything is
going well with them, I make about 5 phone call a day. This give the members the notion that the
pastor care about them. By doing so I let them know that I love them and care about them deeply,
spiritually and physically.
some churches think so, I just believe God is constantly giving me new ideas on how to expand
the membership and the ministry. I strongly believe what works for one church may not always
work for another.
7.Provide a summary of your interview.
a.What stood out to you the most from this interview?
One of the most important things that I recognized was that the Pastor Thornton continued to
talk about was the scriptures, it seems that with every question asked the Pastor injected a
scripture with what was said. He appears to take whatever he believes to be true and reference it
to the word of God to it, I thought this was great to do. And how he always pray before doing
anything to make sure it was not done by him alone, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I also
noted how firm he is on those in leadership roles to follow Christian guidelines and stay free
from the appearance of sin. He is committee to spreading the gospel message at all time in his
ministry. He and his wife take the ministry very serious and shows a deep compassion for all
people, and constantly spread the word of God and encourage his members to do the same out in
the community, where is greatly needed. The gospel is for all people no matter their background
and so all need to hear the gospel message that is able to save those who are lost.
b.What did you learn that will help you develop your own philosophy of
ministry?
We must never take the ministry for granted, always beware of your congregation and who is
sitting I your congregation. Get to know who it is you are working with and their families. It is
these people that can help you in ways you could never imagine. Stay in constant contact with
the members and leaders. The most important thing is the way sin among leaders is handled, to
deal with the person and the act committed immediately and not allow it to continue. These
things must be taken care of on a one-one basis. By doing so you can assist them in living a
Christian life continuously. We must also stake small step instead of large steps and God will
increase your step in due time, or when the time is right.
c. What did you learn about leadership that you feel is important when
ministering to others?
All people are important people, never judge a s person by their appearance. This is one of the
biggest mistakes a leader can make. It is people that make the ministry function and do a large
amount of work in the church, I as a leader cannot do all of this by myself. The people that
make-up the congregation do not belong to me they are God’s people and should never be talked
to in a manner that shows ownership to me as a leader. People know when they are wanted or not
simply by the way one communicates to them. At the same time sin, cannot ever be over looked
it must be confronted always. Always be sensitive to the needs of your congregation, there are
times when a member will not come to you on their own. Become a family member to the
members of the church, this way you are a large part of their lives and their children’s lives. I can
remember someone told me, “I went to that church three times and did not return for two weeks,
and when I did the Pastor called my name and told me I was not there for two weeks, and that
made me feel like I belonged there and I became a member of the church just for that reason.
Whatever it takes to show love and compassion to others do it, while never compromising the
word of God. The condition others are in at this moment, I myself was in that same state at one
time. This I find is so vitally important, because sometimes when a person accept Jesus as their
Savior, they sometimes forget why others are living the way they once did, this they need to
never forget where they came from. Ministry is all about helping and assisting others who are in
need, and spreading the gospel to them who are in need. Beware Ignoring or mistreating other
have a rippling affect, they will tell others about the way a leader or even a member treat them.
Let not your good be evil spoken of.
a.
If you did a self-evaluation, In what areas of leadership and/or ministry do you feel
you need to improve? Develop a specific plan to improve in these areas. How will
you measure your progress?
The area of leadership I most need improvement in is teaching. There are time I feel
I’m not giving enough information to the students and I feel I have always left something out, or
maybe it’s just me. My plans include studying the text more in depth than I use to, making sure
the scriptures are in the proper context to the subject. Extracting all the proper information so I
can to be able to make the subject as plain as possible. Use references as much as possible to
validate the main points. Give a test to the students to see if the material was understood well
enough. But most importantly pray before I teach any lesson and while teaching that the
information is understood by the students. The measure of my progress can be given by me from
the students, by comprising a list of question provided to the students, as well as taking a survey
to see if the attendance has increased or decreased. The other way it can be measured is by
allowing the students to answer questions openly pertaining to the subject being taught now or,
previous lessons on the subject on pass subjects. I know some students will prefer to fill out a
questioning over answering questions openly. The last way is by observing the student’s
attention when teaching any lesson, I aim to make all subjects as interesting as possible.
