10 Things I Wish I Had Taught the Churches I Pastored

I don’t question if I gave my best efforts as a full-time pastor, but I know I could have done much, much better in that role. Below, for example, are some things I didn’t teach but now wish I had. Maybe this list will help you if you’re a pastor:

1. Biblical conflict resolution. I tried to follow these principles when I dealt with conflict, but I didn’t teach my congregation how to resolve their own interpersonal conflicts. 
2. Cross-cultural evangelism. We sent teams to the international mission field, but I realize now I should have better equipped them to evangelize in other cultures. 
3. Personal mentoring. I mentored members, yet I didn’t teach them to mentor others. I failed to teach faithful men to teach other faithful men. 
4. Biblical lay counseling. Frankly, I needed this training first—but I would have then trained staff and lay members to counsel others. That step likely would have freed me from doing all the counseling. 
5. Church and Baptist history. I realize these topics may not have readily interested many church members, but it would have been my job to convince them of their importance. We have a rich heritage members should know. 
6. Basic biblical hermeneutics. I’m embarrassed I didn’t teach my churches more than 25+ years ago how to interpret the Word. I just got frustrated with them when they had strange interpretations . . . .
7. Church planting. We supported local plants through our Baptist association, but I didn’t cast vision for our congregation to reproduce ourselves. To be honest, I doubt I would have been ready to send out my best members. 
8. Missionary calling. It seems surprising to me now that I have such a personal passion for missions, but I didn’t do a good job of “calling out the called” for the sake of the nations. 
9. Elder leadership. At the time, not many Baptist churches in my area had a plurality of leaders. Since then, though, I’ve learned the wisdom of this approach to church leadership. 
10. Evangelistic apologetics. I would have wanted them to know how to defend their faith in light of other world religions and philosophies. 

What would you include on your list?