York shares sage advice to Pastors’ Conference attendees

By Karen L. Willoughby

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It wasn’t your typical pastor’s conference.

One day before the Oct. 25 annual meeting of the Utah Idaho Southern Baptist Convention a pastors’ conference took place in the worship center of Risen Life Church in Salt Lake City.

“The point was not to be an academic event but to be focusing on the character and personal renewal of the pastor,” Charles Cutrera told UI Connections. Cutrera, pastor of Mountain View Baptist Church in Layton, Utah, was this year’s pastors’ conference president.

Later in the day, Ed Romine, pastor of education and evangelism at First Baptist Church of Provo, Utah, was elected president for UISBC’s 2025 pastors conference, set for Oct. 23, 2025, at Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho. 

“Dr. Hershael York shared sage advice during the 60^th Utah-Idaho Pastors’ Conference,” UISBC Executive Director Rob Lee told UI Connections. “His messages were filled with biblical truths to guide those in pastoral ministry. He shared some of his mistakes as a young married pastor to encourage those in attendance not to make them.”

York, professor of Christian Preaching, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a pastor for 40 years, spoke in several sessions on aspects of a pastor’s life.

“His heart is for pastoral renewal because the most important thing about the pastor is his character and his own walk with Jesus,” Cutrera continued. York was Cutrera’s preaching professor at Southern Seminary, so the Utah pastor said he knew York could deliver a personalized approach to his listeners.

“Pastors, that’s my tribe,” York told the 50 or more men who as the day went on seemed to be listening intently to every word. “I’m first of all a shepherd, a shepherd who preaches.

“I want what I say today to be practical and personal,” York continued as he began by describing from 2 Cor. 12 the Apostle Paul’s “personal appearance is weak, he’s not impressive. Yet it’s that which is the very thing that qualified him to be an apostle of Christ.”

York said he read in Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom that “’God uses your weaknesses far more than your strengths.’ If dependence on Christ is good, anything that makes you depend on Christ is a gift,” York said.

Too often, pastors might think they could do so much better if they had “this” or didn’t have “that,” just as he did when the only job he could find despite his newly-minted degree was that of a church janitor, York said. That’s when he learned from God that, “Until you can clean the toilets for My glory, you’re not fit to be a pastor.

“You will learn a lot more from the thorn in your flesh than from your time in the ‘third heaven,’ York taught. “You’ve got to glory in your weakness to display the power of Christ. Intimacy with Christ is your goal, so that you can truly say, ‘Use my life to glorify Your Son.’

“The Lord Jesus Christ contorted Himself into human flesh to meet us where we are and is using that for an eternal wave of glory,” York continued. “The thing you most want to be rid of, is what God most wants to use.”

In his second session York turned to the topic of marriage.

“It doesn’t matter what your struggle in marriage is, you need to deal correctly with it,” York said after describing his marriage to the woman he admires more than anyone, but he still sometimes finds living together challenging.

“We can’t coast. We can’t say, ‘my marriage is good enough,’” York preached from Ephesians 4. He listed “seven pillars” to build into marriage: honesty, serenity, security, generosity, intentionality, spirituality, and amnesty.

“God commands you to love your wife as Christ loves the church,” York said. Deceit is deadly; anger is possible without sinning in the expression of it; the opposite of stealing is sharing; build up your spouse; don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by being unkind to your wife, and “There is no place for treating a woman disrespectfully.” 

“When your marriage is what God wants it to be, you can handle anything,” York proclaimed. 

Session three focused on fatherhood, speaking from Hebrews 11:2-22. 

“You always want your dad to be your dad but at a point you want to stop your mom mothering you,” York said. “Never ever ever ever let them think you don’t love them. Never ever ever let them think their sin is okay. 

“Let them know the only way you’re ever going to be happy in life is to be close to the Lord,” the preaching professor said. “Our goal is to point our children to the blessing. Use every ounce of blessing to love them to Jesus. Instruct them that your greatest desire is for them to know the Lord.”

There is no “off” position on the father switch, York said. It’s not beneficial to the family for Dad to come home from work and retreat to his recliner. Dads need to be engaging with their offspring no matter what age. 

“The pastor as under-shepherd” was the topic for the fourth session of Utah-Idaho’s pastors’ conference. York spoke from 1 Peter 5.

“Common sense doesn’t make headlines. Sin does,” York preached, lamenting tales of high-profile pastors who suffered from self-inflicted failures and sin. “Faithful shepherds busy fulfilling their calling might find the only headlines they make are in heaven.”

Pastors have a hard row to hoe. “As a pastor you feel what they feel. … But what no one else can do for them is take the scriptures to them and let them know they [the pastor] are in this with [the person in crisis,]” York taught.

“Our ministry needs to keep this expansive view: the sufficiency of Christ and the glory to be revealed. The whole story of redemption, that’s what we should be preaching. We should major in on the suffering of Jesus and the glory of His redemption.”

Lead from the front; don’t drive from behind, York said. Determine you will “love the people God has given me.”

The preaching professor spoke of the difficulties that seem to spring up in the third and fifth years of ministry at a church, and even after. “After year nine, things get better,” York said. He pointed his listeners to Paul’s example, as described in Acts 20. 

“There is coming a day when the Chief Shepherd who called us will glorify us with Him,” York preached. “We don’t merely look back at what Christ did in redemption nor do we only look forward to our glorification. It must be both and all the time.”

York then took questions from pastors:

How can a pastor team be united during disagreement? If you trust each other you can walk through differences. Is the disagreement based on strategy or character? Is an insubordinate attitude the problem? Communication is key. Trust is imperative. 

What’s your counsel for bivocational pastors? They are the wave of the future. You’re ahead of the curve. Relax; don’t hold yourself to an unfair standard. If God called you there, you aren’t there by accident. It’s a balancing act: Keep your priorities right. Don’t sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry. Include your kids and wife in ministry. Be joyful. Don’t let busyness rob you of your joy.

What are the habits you’ve developed for a long-term ministry? York counseled pastors to have an ongoing preaching schedule, rotating between Old and New Testaments, close detail and broad overview. law and grace. He added, “The more you love and admire and identify with them, the better you’ll connect. Just love people in all their weirdness, their quirkiness. Learn to embrace them and love them.”

How do you prioritize your spiritual life as a pastor? “I’ve made it priority, feeding on the Word. … Preach the gospel to yourself. You’ve got to give attention to your own spiritual nourishment. You’ve got to stay in love with Christ.” 

What are real indicators that it’s time to move on? “When you’ve lost credibility or influence. When they won’t follow you. Consider your family’s health. I don’t want my children to grow sour on Jesus.”

What role do you play in forming the budget?  “If you’re clear in your convictions and commitments, you don’t have to be in the room. I trusted my people to know the parameters that I had articulated from the pulpit and to consistently implement those in our budget.” 

What advice do you have about missions? “I talked about the Cooperative Program and missions, and went on mission trips. What I preached at Christmas was to give more to Jesus than any one person, by at least $1. I led in it because I believe the Lord deserves our best.” 

How do you balance raising up leaders without giving up the pastorate? “I lead by influence, not authority.”

How do you do sermon prep? “You get better at it, more efficient. You get a better sense of the people as time goes on. Before I start on a new book, I gather and consult resources about the text. My strategy is that there’s always a main point. It’s a propositional statement that’s applicable. Then explanation, interpretation, application. Illustrations get harder the longer you preach. They won’t remember the sermon but do remember the illustration, so you always need new ones. Sermon prep takes time. I learned how to get up early in the morning.”

How does personal evangelism affect your ministry as a pastor? “If you’re a pastor you’ve got to be an evangelist too. Train your people too.”

York closed with a prayer for his listeners: “I pray you will bless them with a joy in the ministry.”

Want more of York? Watch the video of him speaking about “Challenges a pastor may face in ministry.”

Watch the 60th UISBC Pastors’ Conference in it’s entirety.