Today we’d like to introduce you to Moses Toole.
Hi Moses, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been in Pastoral Ministry for 34 years. I have served 29 of those years in Effingham County. Prior to entering pastoral ministry I worked in the corporate world for 10 years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Overall, it has been the best years of my life. Like the vast majority of pastors, I have experienced great difficulty. I have only served three churches in all these years. The first church I served was in Bulloch County, and ended painfully, but during the five years I was there I witnessed the Lord grow His church mightily. I served my second church in Effingham County for thirteen years, during which time the Lord grew His church in ways I never imagined. Becoming a large church was not something, looking back, that I was personally prepared for. The growth we experienced was rapid, and in some ways pastorally overwhelming. Not paying attention to the warning signs of burn-out, I experienced burn-out. Though I knew I was struggling emotionally and physically, I ignored the signs that were right before me. I now see that I was too prideful to admit to myself, or anyone else, that I needed time for rest and rejuvenation. Having burned out, I took almost two full years away from pastoral ministry. To be honest, I did not intend to pastor a church again. The church was wonderful, the people were great. It was my fault. Ignoring the signs of burnout is my biggest regret in ministry. Though I had no intention of stepping back into pastoral ministry, an opportunity presented itself to assist in planting a new church work on the other end of the county. Initially, I declined the request to assist. In fact, I declined more than once. But, the Lord wasn’t through with me yet. Here I am, 16 years later, still serving that ‘new’ church. Once again, the Lord has blessed His church. We began with a few people, and no property. Today, we are over 200 people with multiple buildings for use in ministry, on a beautiful piece of property. And, we are debt free. Today, I better recognize the signs of weariness, and I have learned by the grace of God to guard against my own tendency to pridefully ignore that which I must pay attention to.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Senior Pastor. My primary responsibilities are: the pulpit ministry / the preaching pastor; the direct supervisor of fellow staff members; shouldering the responsibility for making certain that any teaching materials used are of sound Christian doctrine in accordance with the Word of God; responsible for the spiritual health of the church; approving the placement of individual teachers in Bible Connect Groups/classes; responsible for the biblical soundness of church-wide corporate worship services; make pastoral visits to church members when requested, or needed.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am generally extremely conservative, and therefore am careful before taking a risk. However, I realize that being overly averse to risk can work against stepping out in faith, so I strive to strike a healthy balance. On the one hand, I do not want to lead the church into a risk that may harm the church. Yet, on the other, I cringe at the thought of not stepping out in faith due to my own fear of failure. The greatest risk I have ever taken is leaving my corporate career to enter pastoral ministry. At the time I was 31 years old; my wife had just received a liver transplant, and we had a three year old daughter. I took a large pay cut to enter ministry. I say that it was a risk. For me it was, but it was never a risk in the eyes of Him who called me. Looking back, the Lord used the circumstances under which He called me to teach me that He would always provide for me and my family. He also used it to teach me to be unafraid to step out in faith for Him and His church. I suppose that I am still risk averse, but I am not averse to stepping out in faith.
Contact Info:
- Website: Centerpoint Community Church, Rincon GA.
- Instagram: www.centerpointcommunity.org
- Youtube: Centerpoint Community Church @ centerpointcommunitychurch2787
