The First Five
Clergy Mentoring for the Years That Make or Break a Ministry
Nobody tells you about the first council meeting where someone questions your call. Or the family that leaves without explanation. Or the Sunday you stand in the pulpit and wonder whether any of this is real. Seminary prepared you for theology. It did not prepare you for this.
The first five years of ordained ministry have the highest attrition of any period in a pastor's career. The gap between formation and reality is wide, the loneliness is real, and the institutional support is usually thin. Most young clergy navigate it alone, learning by trial and error in a vocation where the errors involve real people.
They don't have to.
What I Offer
The First Five is a mentoring program for clergy in their first five years of ordained ministry — or for those who are further along but never got the accompaniment they needed in those early years. It is built around honest conversation, practical wisdom, and the kind of counsel that only comes from someone who has actually been in the room.
I bring 28 years of parish ministry, a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction and Formation, 15 years of formation faculty experience, and the perspective of a Retired U.S. Army Major who understands what it means to lead under pressure. I have guided congregations through conflict, transition, and closure. I have sat with young pastors who were ready to quit. I will tell you the truth.
One-on-One Mentoring
For clergy who want direct, sustained accompaniment. Monthly sessions by video or in person for those in the Houston area. Each engagement is tailored to what you are actually navigating — not a curriculum, not a checklist, but a real conversation with someone who has been where you are.
One-on-one mentoring is the highest-access format. You bring what's on your desk. We work on that.
Topics I regularly work through with mentees include:
The Cohort
For clergy who want community alongside counsel. Small groups of four to six pastors meeting monthly by video, structured around shared conversation and mutual accountability. The cohort format costs less than one-on-one and offers something one-on-one cannot: the experience of knowing you are not alone in what you are facing.
There is something that happens in a room — even a virtual room — when one pastor names something they've been carrying in silence and three others say: me too. That is not therapy. That is the band of brothers and sisters the vocation was always supposed to provide and rarely does.
Cohorts meet for a defined season — typically six to nine months — and may continue by mutual agreement.
Who This Is For
A Note on Denomination
I am an ordained ELCA Lutheran pastor, but The First Five is not a Lutheran program. My formation draws from the Lutheran confessional tradition, the Anglican contemplative tradition, Catholic philosophical theology, and 28 years of ecumenical ministry. If you are a pastor who needs a thinking partner, the tradition on your ordination certificate is not a barrier.
Getting Started
If you're interested in one-on-one mentoring or want to be considered for an upcoming cohort, reach out through the contact page. Initial conversations are free. There is no sales process. You describe what you are navigating, I describe what I offer, and we decide together whether it makes sense.
The first five years are hard. They don't have to be lonely
The first five years of ordained ministry have the highest attrition of any period in a pastor's career. The gap between formation and reality is wide, the loneliness is real, and the institutional support is usually thin. Most young clergy navigate it alone, learning by trial and error in a vocation where the errors involve real people.
They don't have to.
What I Offer
The First Five is a mentoring program for clergy in their first five years of ordained ministry — or for those who are further along but never got the accompaniment they needed in those early years. It is built around honest conversation, practical wisdom, and the kind of counsel that only comes from someone who has actually been in the room.
I bring 28 years of parish ministry, a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction and Formation, 15 years of formation faculty experience, and the perspective of a Retired U.S. Army Major who understands what it means to lead under pressure. I have guided congregations through conflict, transition, and closure. I have sat with young pastors who were ready to quit. I will tell you the truth.
One-on-One Mentoring
For clergy who want direct, sustained accompaniment. Monthly sessions by video or in person for those in the Houston area. Each engagement is tailored to what you are actually navigating — not a curriculum, not a checklist, but a real conversation with someone who has been where you are.
One-on-one mentoring is the highest-access format. You bring what's on your desk. We work on that.
Topics I regularly work through with mentees include:
- Navigating council and congregational conflict
- Preaching and sermon development
- Boundary-setting and self-care without the clichés
- Pastoral identity and vocational clarity
- Working within — and around — denominational systems
- The spiritual life of the pastor, not just the congregation
- Handling criticism, failure, and the slow erosion of confidence
- When to stay and when to go
The Cohort
For clergy who want community alongside counsel. Small groups of four to six pastors meeting monthly by video, structured around shared conversation and mutual accountability. The cohort format costs less than one-on-one and offers something one-on-one cannot: the experience of knowing you are not alone in what you are facing.
There is something that happens in a room — even a virtual room — when one pastor names something they've been carrying in silence and three others say: me too. That is not therapy. That is the band of brothers and sisters the vocation was always supposed to provide and rarely does.
Cohorts meet for a defined season — typically six to nine months — and may continue by mutual agreement.
Who This Is For
- Newly ordained pastors in their first call
- Second-call clergy who feel like they're still figuring it out
- Pastors who never had a mentor and are starting to feel the cost of that
- Clergy navigating a specific crisis — congregational conflict, a difficult council, vocational doubt
- Pastors from any tradition — Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, non-denominational — who want a conversation partner with serious formation and no denominational agenda
A Note on Denomination
I am an ordained ELCA Lutheran pastor, but The First Five is not a Lutheran program. My formation draws from the Lutheran confessional tradition, the Anglican contemplative tradition, Catholic philosophical theology, and 28 years of ecumenical ministry. If you are a pastor who needs a thinking partner, the tradition on your ordination certificate is not a barrier.
Getting Started
If you're interested in one-on-one mentoring or want to be considered for an upcoming cohort, reach out through the contact page. Initial conversations are free. There is no sales process. You describe what you are navigating, I describe what I offer, and we decide together whether it makes sense.
The first five years are hard. They don't have to be lonely
