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Staying in the Fight: Pastoral Longevity, Family Rhythms & Creating Life-Giving Friendships with Jeff Bogue
🎙️ Gary sits down with Jeff Bogue (Grace Church) to talk about staying in ministry for the long haul. Jeff shares why friendships and mentors matter, how family rhythms protect the soul, the hard realities of pastoral weight, and practical disciplines that keep pastors healthy and in the fight. Honest, encouraging, and full of practical takeaways.
Gary welcomes longtime pastor and friend Jeff Bogue for a candid conversation about pastoral life that’s rooted in service — not fame. Jeff walks listeners through 30+ years of ministry wisdom: the power of mentors, why pastors need trusted friends who “get it,” family rhythms that protect marriage and kids, and how to stay connected to the lost people that keep ministry meaningful.
Conversation highlights
Jeff’s personal context: 32 years at the same church, recent granddad joy, and a family-centered leadership life.
The mentor model: how figures like Newt Larson and Bob Combs took calls, sat with Jeff in crisis, and shaped his pastoral DNA.
Why pastors “get” pastors: ministry’s unique burdens — funerals, fractured friendships, family fallout — require pastoral peers.
Rhythms that protect: family Fridays, shared creative family moments (hello Bogue Christmas raps), and physical outlets (mowing, landscaping, Kubota tractor zen).
Building life-giving friendships: making friendships (don’t wait to “find” them), scheduling connection, and the difference between staff relationships and outside friendships.
Identity & vocation: “It’s not about being a social-media star — it’s about keeping pastors of smaller churches in the fight.”
Practical advice for younger pastors: trust the Lord, cultivate life-giving relationships, count your joys, and stay close to lost people.
Memorable lines
“Ministry is a great way to live and a horrible way to make a living.”
“Friendship is loyalty, not time.”
“If you lose your contact with lost people, you’ve lost half the joy of ministry.”
Who this episode is for
Lead pastors, associate pastors, ministry leaders, pastors’ spouses, and anyone who wants a clearer, kinder view of what long-term ministry looks like.
Resources & links
Learn more about Grace Church / Jeff Bogue
LovePastors: subscribe / share / leave a review
If this episode encouraged you, share it with a pastor who needs permission to pace themselves. Subscribe to LovePastors and leave a review — it helps other pastors find life-giving conversations.
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By LovePastors.com Team - We Love Pastors
5
1111 ratings
🎙️ Gary sits down with Jeff Bogue (Grace Church) to talk about staying in ministry for the long haul. Jeff shares why friendships and mentors matter, how family rhythms protect the soul, the hard realities of pastoral weight, and practical disciplines that keep pastors healthy and in the fight. Honest, encouraging, and full of practical takeaways.
Gary welcomes longtime pastor and friend Jeff Bogue for a candid conversation about pastoral life that’s rooted in service — not fame. Jeff walks listeners through 30+ years of ministry wisdom: the power of mentors, why pastors need trusted friends who “get it,” family rhythms that protect marriage and kids, and how to stay connected to the lost people that keep ministry meaningful.
Conversation highlights
Jeff’s personal context: 32 years at the same church, recent granddad joy, and a family-centered leadership life.
The mentor model: how figures like Newt Larson and Bob Combs took calls, sat with Jeff in crisis, and shaped his pastoral DNA.
Why pastors “get” pastors: ministry’s unique burdens — funerals, fractured friendships, family fallout — require pastoral peers.
Rhythms that protect: family Fridays, shared creative family moments (hello Bogue Christmas raps), and physical outlets (mowing, landscaping, Kubota tractor zen).
Building life-giving friendships: making friendships (don’t wait to “find” them), scheduling connection, and the difference between staff relationships and outside friendships.
Identity & vocation: “It’s not about being a social-media star — it’s about keeping pastors of smaller churches in the fight.”
Practical advice for younger pastors: trust the Lord, cultivate life-giving relationships, count your joys, and stay close to lost people.
Memorable lines
“Ministry is a great way to live and a horrible way to make a living.”
“Friendship is loyalty, not time.”
“If you lose your contact with lost people, you’ve lost half the joy of ministry.”
Who this episode is for
Lead pastors, associate pastors, ministry leaders, pastors’ spouses, and anyone who wants a clearer, kinder view of what long-term ministry looks like.
Resources & links
Learn more about Grace Church / Jeff Bogue
LovePastors: subscribe / share / leave a review
If this episode encouraged you, share it with a pastor who needs permission to pace themselves. Subscribe to LovePastors and leave a review — it helps other pastors find life-giving conversations.
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