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Continue reading →: Ongoing Learning a Key to MinistryI love learning. So even though I’m officially ending my pastoral ministry this month, even though I’m technically on vacation that I postponed until now, I happily took part in this year’s meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion in Denver, Colorado (featured image: Denver…
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Continue reading →: What I Will Miss, What I Hope ForLast Sunday was my last sermon and my last Sunday as lead pastor at my church–such a wonderful day filled with worship, laughter, tears, thoughtfulness, creativity, artistry, love, and beautiful surprises. My husband and I are both so grateful for such an amazing farewell Sunday! By request, here is my…
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Continue reading →: Can We Still Be Friends?But you’re more than my pastor. We’re friends, so we can still go out to lunch together, can’t we? Can you still come by for coffee? We were friends before I/we started coming to this church, so we’ll still be friends when you’re no longer the pastor, right? I don’t…
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Continue reading →: Seven Signs that You’re Ready for New MinistryNow I sense that the Spirit is blowing me in a new direction, to complete my ministry at Emmanuel and for me to engage more deeply in writing and publishing, while also remaining open to new ministry in some other setting. – letter to the church council and congregation, April…
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Continue reading →: How to Do Mission Without Being OverwhelmedHow are we to engage the world of mission without being overwhelmed? As a local church, we have supported mission workers in the Philippines from our own congregation, plus many more workers around the world through our denomination. We give money and volunteer hours to relief and development through a…
When You Work for the Church
Hello,
I’m April Yamasaki
Welcome to When You Work for the Church. I’ve been a church volunteer and a full-time pastor. I’ve led small groups and served on denominational committees. When I resigned from pastoral ministry to focus on my writing, I knew that I wanted to be—needed to be—grounded in a local congregation. I love the church!
But I also know that churches and church organizations have not always lived up to their calling, have brought harm instead of healing. So I started this website to share resources for doing ministry better, and pray that together we might serve more faithfully and effectively.
For a healthy rhythm of work and rest, I’d love to send you my ebook.
When You Work for the Church 