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Table of Contents

Trust is a Two-Way Street

God's plan is for pastors and evangelists to be partners in ministry. During the past 40 years, my husband Lowell and I have worked side by side with several thousand pastors in many types of meetings: church revivals, Bible camps, district-sponsored retreats, and citywide crusades. Our partnership with pastors has brought thousands of people to Jesus Christ.

In September 1996, the Lord directed us to pioneer a new work in the Minneapolis area, and He has blessed Celebration Center with exciting growth. Hosting singers, missionaries, and speakers has helped us see the need for trust between pastors and guests even clearer.

Because the evangelist is the invited guest, the pastor must take the first step in this trusting partnership: Never invite an evangelist to your church until you have heard him personally and checked him out fully. It's wrong to invite a man to preach and then treat him with caution and skepticism.

For example, in the early years of our ministry, Lowell and I were invited to a large church in Iowa. God blessed the revival, and many were coming to Christ. One night we accepted a businessman's invitation to lunch after the service. The next morning the pastor confronted Lowell: "I heard you went out to lunch with Mr. and Mrs. So and So."

Lowell replied, "Yes, is something wrong?"

The pastor replied, "I don't want my evangelists going out to eat with my people."

We were shocked by his comment. Then the Spirit of the Lord gave Lowell the courage to say, "Pastor, if you don't trust me with your best deacon, then you shouldn't trust me to proclaim God's Word from your pulpit. If you have any doubts about my character and conduct with your members, you should never have invited me to your church."

The pastor softened his attitude. We continued the revival with even greater results and remained friends with that pastor until his homegoing 35 years later.

A pastor can check out an evangelist with a few phone calls to the guest's district superintendent and the past several places he has preached. Ask pointed questions about the evangelist's message, manners, and character.

The second part of this soul-winning partnership falls on the evangelist, who needs to trust the pastor to support him spiritually and financially.

A good bridge to forming a trusting relationship can be achieved by scheduling a 1-night rally or Sunday meeting before a full-length event is set. This permits the evangelist and pastor to see if their ministry philosophies and personalities match well enough to plan a longer meeting.

Trust is a two-way street. It only works well when both pastor and evangelist have confidence in each other and will work together as a team.

Connie Lundstrom and her husband Lowell pastor Celebration Center in Burnsville, Minnesota.