One thing I especially want to write about here, but have not yet gotten to is the issue of oversight itself. I am convinced that the oversight of souls is the heart of pastoral ministry. Everything else emerges from this concept. Our teaching, preaching, counseling, rebuking, encouraging, visiting and working on the way the church operates is to be an aspect of overseeing souls. The key verse on this is Hebrews 13:17, which will deserve more discussion in itself.

Perhaps one good way (and one I can accomplish at the moment!) is to point you to a statement of philosophy of pastoral ministry I have drawn up. I do not claim in any way that it is complete or definitive. It is a work in progress. It is the fruit of an effort to express on paper for a specific church what exactly I thought the Scripture says about the work of the pastor.