People in many walks of life see an element of ministry in their work. But being in charge of a congregation small or large requires a unique kind of commitment, and poses very unique challenges. Here are some quotations from people who have confronted the challenges and seen the benefits of being in Christian ministry in many different decades. If you have an interesting quote about ministry that you would like to see added to this page, please contact us. We’d like to hear from you!
“It is one of the ironies of the ministry that the very man who works in God’s name is often hardest put to find time for God. The parents of Jesus lost Him at church, and they were not the last ones to lose Him there.”
– Vance Havner, Baptist preacher
“The Christian ministry is the worst of all trades, but the best of all professions.”
– John Newton (1725-1807), British writer
“As I look back over fifty years of ministry, I recall innumerable tests, trials and times of crushing pain. But through it all, the Lord has proven faithful, loving, and totally true to all his promises.”
– David Wilkerson
“Some plague the people with too long sermons; for the faculty of listening is a tender thing, and soon becomes weary and satiated.”
– Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
“Use your ministry to build people, not people to build your ministry.”
– Jacquelyn K. Heasley
“I also pray for favor and His anointing on my life and ministry that I might have spiritual blessing when I minister to people. They’re my principal prayers; I don’t have a prayer list that I go down.”
– Pat Robertson
“I have to say that I have no regrets about my decision to become a priest or about the major directions my ministry has taken me… I have been and am happy as a priest, and I have never been lonely… I could have used a bit more solitude.”
– Andrew Greeley, Catholic writer
“One of the hardest jobs in ministry is keeping your own relationship with God where it needs to be.”
– Harold Warner
“I would have every minister of the gospel address his audience with the zeal of a friend, with the generous energy of a father, and with the exuberant affection of a mother.”
– Francois Fenelon
“The true character of ministry is a servants heart.”
– Harold Warner
“While I am the one who made the choice to enter the ministry, there was a choice before that one, the choice God made in calling me to be his in the first place.”
– James Green Somerville
“The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”
— Carl F. H. Henry
“The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not What a lovely sermon, but, I will do something!”
– St. Francis de Sales (1567 – 1622)
“Your ministry will never be bigger than your vision of Jesus.”
– Patty Hammond
“Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words.”
– St. Francis of Assisi
“Nothing is more needed among preachers today than that we should have the courage to shake ourselves free from the thousand and one trivialities in which we are asked to waste our time and strength, and resolutely return to the apostolic ideal which made necessary the office of the pastorate. (We must resolve that) we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the Word.”
– G. Campbell Morgan (1863 – 1945), English evangelist
“In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”
– Titus 2:2-8
“If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice? “
– David Livingstone (1813 – 1873), Scottish missionary, scientist and explorer
“The Bible was America’s basic textbook in all fields.”
– Noah Webster (1758 – 1843), American lexicographer adn writer
“I always say to young fellows who consult me about the ministry, “Don’t be a minister if you can help it,” because if the man can help it, God never called him. But if he cannot help it, and he must preach or die, then he is the man.”
– C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), British Baptist preacher
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.”
– President Abraham Lincoln
“Whether young or old, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, should presume to dispense the mysteries of Christ without the strongest of all possible reasons for doing so – the imperative, invincible call of God. No one is to show cause why he ought not to be a Minister: he is to show cause why he should be a Minister. His call to the sacred profession is not the absence of a call to any other pursuit; it is direct, immediate, powerful, to this very department of labour. He is not here because he can be nowhere else, but he is nowhere else because he must be here.”
– James Henley Thornwell (1812 – 1862), American Presbyterian preacher
“Let every preacher take note: Amid the frustrations and hardships of ministry, the most Christ-like thing is to stay focused on your calling, give thanks to God, and go on preaching the Gospel.”
– Joel Beeke, professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
“The goal of the pastor is not to get people to show up but to get people to grow up.”
– John Maxwell, evangelical Christian author
“He who would be a faithful minister of the gospel must deny the pride of his heart, be emptied of ambition, and set himself wholly to seek the glory of God in his calling.”
– William Perkins (1558–1602), English puritan clergyman
“We cannot make up for failure in our devotional life by redoubling energy in service. We shall never take people beyond our own spiritual attainment.”
– W.H. Griffith Thomas (1861 – 1924), English Anglican clergyman
“Though He did what he could to help the multitudes, He had to devote Himself primarily to a few men, rather than the masses, so that the masses could at last be saved. This was the genius of his strategy.”
– Robert E. Coleman, American evangelist
“If you teach men that God is the source of their pleasure and sin is the source of their pain, they will run to God and away from sin.”
– Jacquelyn K. Heasley
“Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.”
– John Henry Jowett (1864-1923), English minister
“There are three stages in the work of God: Impossible; Difficult; Done.”
– Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), British Christian missionary to China
“People’s lives are beaten down enough. They don’t need more of it from the pulpit.”
– Richard Ganz
“Of all the missionaries that ever preached to the heathen, I suppose St. Patrick was about the most broad-minded and tolerant; as is evidenced in the whole story of his life-work. He made allowance for all the prejudices of the native Irish, and never interfered with any of their customs so long as they did not infringe on the tenets of Christianity…yet when he encountered downright pagan beliefs, idolatrous rites or wickedness in any form, he was determined and fearless.”
– From the “Shanahus More,” published around the beginning of the 10th century.
“We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.”
– John Stott, English Anglican clergyman
