Most any pastor can help people in times of need. It doesn’t take a skillful pastor to visit someone in the hospital and be comforting. Moments when people are down and desperate are not the greatest tests of our ministry. The greatest tests are those times when people are not down, desperate, or at the end of their rope. It takes a real pastor to go into a family where someone has just been promoted to the presidency of the local bank and say, ‘Mary, I’ve just gotten the news of your promotion. So I rushed over, knowing that this promotion is placing you in an extremely vulnerable position as far as your soul is concerned. I wanted to come stand beside you during this time of potential temptation. Could we pray?’ [editor: It is also a time for celebration, I might add.] By: George Buttrick Source: Salt of The Earth, March/April, 1996