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7 Lessons for New Pastors: Your First Year in Ministry
In 7 Lessons for New Pastors , author Matthew Kim discusses various experiences he had during his first year as a senior pastor. He offers seven lessons that he learned and continues to learn as a young minister in hopes of assisting others as they navigate through their first year in ministry-- and beyond. Learn how to create balance in your new life as a minister, get a behind-the-scenes look at what pastoral life is really like, and read advice on how to find the right church.
Questions for individual or group reflection are included at the end of each chapter.
Questions for individual or group reflection are included at the end of each chapter.
131 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
4 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Matthew D. Kim
17 books6 followersMatthew D. Kim (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of preaching and pastoral leadership, holder of the George W. Truett endowed chair in preaching and evangelism, and director of the PhD in preaching program at Baylor University's Truett Seminary in Waco, Texas.
He is the award-winning author of numerous books, including Ready to Preach: An Introduction to Homiletics (Baker Academic, 2026), Becoming a Friendlier Church: A Pathway to Genuine Community (Baker Books, 2026), What's God Saying Here?: How to Navigate Awkward, Troubling, and Bizarre Passages We Would Rather Skip (Zondervan Reflective, 2025), Preaching to a Divided Nation (Baker Academic, 2022), Preaching to People in Pain (Baker Academic, 2021), Preaching to Possible Selves (Peter Lang, 2021), 7 Lessons for New Pastors, 2nd ed. (Cascade, 2021), Finding Our Voice (Lexham, 2020), A Little Book for New Preachers (IVP Academic, 2020), and Preaching with Cultural Intelligence (Baker Academic, 2017).
Matt has also co-edited We Follow Christ: Helping Women to Discern God's Call (Baylor University Press, 2025), The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching (Baker Academic, 2021), Homiletics and Hermeneutics (Baker Academic, 2018), and No Program but Time, No Book but the Bible (Wipf and Stock, 2018).
He has three books under contract: Preaching with Emotional Intelligence: Reconnecting Pastoral Ministry and the Pulpit (Baker Academic, 2027), Chasing Holograms: Redefining and Reforming Our Christian Identity (Zondervan Academic, 2028), and The Ministry Mentors: Best Practices for Pastoral Leaders (coauthored, Baker Academic, 2030).
He is the award-winning author of numerous books, including Ready to Preach: An Introduction to Homiletics (Baker Academic, 2026), Becoming a Friendlier Church: A Pathway to Genuine Community (Baker Books, 2026), What's God Saying Here?: How to Navigate Awkward, Troubling, and Bizarre Passages We Would Rather Skip (Zondervan Reflective, 2025), Preaching to a Divided Nation (Baker Academic, 2022), Preaching to People in Pain (Baker Academic, 2021), Preaching to Possible Selves (Peter Lang, 2021), 7 Lessons for New Pastors, 2nd ed. (Cascade, 2021), Finding Our Voice (Lexham, 2020), A Little Book for New Preachers (IVP Academic, 2020), and Preaching with Cultural Intelligence (Baker Academic, 2017).
Matt has also co-edited We Follow Christ: Helping Women to Discern God's Call (Baylor University Press, 2025), The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching (Baker Academic, 2021), Homiletics and Hermeneutics (Baker Academic, 2018), and No Program but Time, No Book but the Bible (Wipf and Stock, 2018).
He has three books under contract: Preaching with Emotional Intelligence: Reconnecting Pastoral Ministry and the Pulpit (Baker Academic, 2027), Chasing Holograms: Redefining and Reforming Our Christian Identity (Zondervan Academic, 2028), and The Ministry Mentors: Best Practices for Pastoral Leaders (coauthored, Baker Academic, 2030).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 17, 2025
Helpful and practical!
December 28, 2015
Substance: 2/5
Readability: 3/5
I'm a seminary student and this was required for reading for class.
7 Lessons for New Pastors is Kim’s valiant effort to provide a “heads up” of sorts to those who have just entered or plan to enter the pastorate. I value the book’s specific focus to the specific audience. There is no getting around to whom Kim writes; if the reader is not in this audience, there’s little to glean from the words. The ideas are organized, concise, and presented well. The work overall was easy to navigate and read, encouraging later referencing if needed.
The voice of one who has been where I am going is invaluable. There are many insights taken from the book, but Kim’s going at lengths to emphasize the importance of a pastor’s healthy emotional, physical, and spiritual life spoke loudly to me. Regrettably, Kim’s advice sounds so strange and contrasting to the words that often surround similar discussions! As he says, we are, “…created to be whole persons.” A whole, full life is one that is intelligently aware of our emotional, physical, and spiritual spheres.
In the introduction, Kim shares seven misconceptions of ministry before sharing the seven lessons throughout the subsequent chapters. Misconception seven is the belief that, “Ministry isn’t that joyful.” I regret to admit that I wish Kim would have injected his words surrounding this misconception throughout the work, simply because I fought anxiety as a reader planning to become a pastor while reading his lessons! I felt bogged down by the “shoulds”, “wills”, “make sures”, and “ought tos”, causing me to leave the book more scared than encouraged. As valuable as the insights are, I don’t think this is Kim’s aim. Perhaps the same principles and lessons filtered through a positive, excited lens would do well to alleviate the stress I fear the tone causes in readers.
Readability: 3/5
I'm a seminary student and this was required for reading for class.
7 Lessons for New Pastors is Kim’s valiant effort to provide a “heads up” of sorts to those who have just entered or plan to enter the pastorate. I value the book’s specific focus to the specific audience. There is no getting around to whom Kim writes; if the reader is not in this audience, there’s little to glean from the words. The ideas are organized, concise, and presented well. The work overall was easy to navigate and read, encouraging later referencing if needed.
The voice of one who has been where I am going is invaluable. There are many insights taken from the book, but Kim’s going at lengths to emphasize the importance of a pastor’s healthy emotional, physical, and spiritual life spoke loudly to me. Regrettably, Kim’s advice sounds so strange and contrasting to the words that often surround similar discussions! As he says, we are, “…created to be whole persons.” A whole, full life is one that is intelligently aware of our emotional, physical, and spiritual spheres.
In the introduction, Kim shares seven misconceptions of ministry before sharing the seven lessons throughout the subsequent chapters. Misconception seven is the belief that, “Ministry isn’t that joyful.” I regret to admit that I wish Kim would have injected his words surrounding this misconception throughout the work, simply because I fought anxiety as a reader planning to become a pastor while reading his lessons! I felt bogged down by the “shoulds”, “wills”, “make sures”, and “ought tos”, causing me to leave the book more scared than encouraged. As valuable as the insights are, I don’t think this is Kim’s aim. Perhaps the same principles and lessons filtered through a positive, excited lens would do well to alleviate the stress I fear the tone causes in readers.
February 10, 2019
This book has so many practical advice for being a Pastor that I have not heard in all the other books I've read on the Pastoral position. I did feel like I may disagree with him on a few minor things but the overall content of the book is good.
July 22, 2014
This book has much insightinto pastoring for ministry students, new pastors and even experienced pastors. Kim covers many practical areas and helpfully weaves his own experience into the book. I wish I had read something like this before or in my early stages of pastoring.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews