Are you kidding me? First you say “All Pro Pastor” and now you say “Champion”. What’s the catch? Here it is. Every Pastor is an All Pro or should be as God’s Messenger and assigned Shepherd, but not all are “Champions”. We must strive to be Champions every day….. and it starts with the Man! As Pastors we are taught many “how to’s” regarding the Church. There are countless support structures and teachings on every conceivable issue, but when it comes to the person called Pastor, it can become very lonely. The Champion Pastor is proactive in doing any and everything to be the Man, God created him to be so that he can be the Pastor he was called to be!
It is the Man part of us where the enemy hits us, our family, our marriage, our mind, our work, our ego and pride, our attitude, our honesty, our finances, our secret struggles, Pastor you know exactly what I am talking about. It is all of us who are called Pastor who are attacked in these areas. Many Pastor tendencies are to keep everything bottled up inside and give the appearance of being indestructible. We isolate ourselves internally and put our feelings, emotions and trust on the “Island of Aloneness”. Most would say, I am surrounded by people, have a family I love and a wife I adore, yet I catch myself with no-one to trust and no-one to talk too. Who can I trust Lord? Is their anyone I can talk to and feel safe??
Pastor, the answer is Yes. God gave us a very powerful and effective solution to defeating this “aloneness”! We have started something called “Champion Tables”. These Tables are made up of four Pastors who meet for about 1-2 hours each week to talk as MEN. Much like Jesus with Peter, James, and John he spent Time with them. At the Table we have time to build real relationships and genuine trust. It becomes our SAFE place. Only another Pastor can understand another Pastor and these Tables are making huge impacts on the Pastors who have started them. Pastors DO NOT look at this as “another meeting” but as a their “Weekly Vacation“. It is a time of refreshing and recharge. Sometimes an unload and reload.
It is this “Weekly Vacation” at the Table that helps us to be that Man of God my wife and children need. It is the Table that gives Pastors encouraging accountability to stay strong and move to the next level. It is the Table that instills a Kingdom Culture because my Pastor brothers lift my arms up when I am in battle and pick me up when no one else knows I have slipped.
The Champions Table is for every Pastor. It is where Champions are made, marriages are strengthened and ministries and energized.
Paul is the Founder and CEO of All Pro Pastors International, a ministry that encourages and challenges Pastors to join together as Kingdom Brothers to develop trust, accountability and unity. It is a ministry that strengthens Pastors marriages, families, and ministries by establishing “Champions Tables”. The “Champions Table” is a safe place where Pastors can meet together and develop genuine relationships. The Champions Table is a pastors “Prayer Fortress!”
Pastor Paul Pickern is married to his wife Linda. They have 5 children (Tony, Stephanie, Dale, Seth, Schyler) and 12 grand children. Their home is in Plant City, Florida between Tampa and Orlando. Paul was born in Belleville, Illinois and Linda was born in Charleston, West Virginia.
