It is not uncommon for pastors and other ministry leaders to feel isolated and alone. This is even more of a reality during a time of quarantine and a worldwide pandemic. Kevin Kolb, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Saint Charles, MO, was burdened about the pressures pastors are going through and decided to do something about it. He stated, “If nothing else, I wanted to get a group of pastors together to pray.” Kolb personally contacted all the BBFI pastors in the Saint Louis area and invited them to his church to meet together for lunch in their outdoor pavilion. Every pastor that was invited showed up and enjoyed a box lunch from Chick-fil-A. After a time of catching up and sharing burdens with one another, each man took a turn praying for one another, for their churches, and for our country. Kolb states, “By the end of the day, almost every one of the pastors that attended reached out to say thanks.”
In a time when it is easy for pastors to isolate themselves even more than normal, one must prioritize bearing one another’s burdens by coming together for fellowship and prayer. One of Kolb’s daughters asked him what they were doing. His reply was “we were applying the old adage to ‘think global, act local.’” When we can’t gather in large groups, we can still gather in small groups.