I have delivered many Pastoral Reports as minister. Above all, a Pastoral Report is about what God has done. But what to say if things don't go well? And sometimes things really don't go well. During a certain year, we had the strongest attendance in nearly 15 years. Church groups were thriving. But we had the biggest budget deficit we had ever seen, and we cut vital expenditures. I was disappointed -- yet I felt encouraged that our Church was not alone in this (there was a price crisis). So I told it like it is. Pastoral Reports are about reporting, and trying to make it a balanced report. OBSERVATION: There is, even more importantly, the issue as to whether God's blessing is present. It may not be -- and then one's troubles are truly troubles. I think that Churches know when this is and isn't so.
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