The Role of Pastors: Honesty and Emotional Intelligence

05 Wednesday Nov 2025

Posted by Kevin M. Watson in Life, Ministry, Teaching, Underground Seminary

Tags

Asbury Church, Asbury Theological Seminary, Bible, Christianity, Church History, faith, God, Jesus, pastors, physicians, Tulsa, Underground Seminary

A quick update this week and a short thought I wanted to share:

My CH501 Church History One Hybrid Is Meeting in Tulsa This Week!

Francis Asbury statue at Asbury Church in Tulsa, OK

This week is my favorite week of the semester. The students for my CH501 Church History One class are coming to Tulsa for our in-person intensive. We will have 20 hours of class time together over 2.5 days. (We will also have an Underground Seminary event with Rev. Andrew Forrest, Asbury Church’s Senior Pastor, this Thursday right before class begins. This is going to be such a blessing to students! Details here.)

I work hard to set a healthy culture that is open to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I wrote about exactly what I do for that here. I think this work has been the most significant growth I’ve experienced during my time in Tulsa so far. Culture is everything!

Much of the work that I am doing is to enable the class together to be open to what God wants to do in our midst while we are together. Because I have seen the Lord do cool things in these hybrids, I carry a sense of anticipation and expectation for these classes when they meet. I also experience a tension when I hold space for the Lord to move. I often have a sense of what the Lord wants to do and also a profound awareness that I am not in control of what the Holy Spirit does or whether people are open to responding. By the way, I think holding this tension is one of the hardest and most important things you do in ministry.

All this is to say, I would be grateful for your prayers for this class. Please ask the Lord to enable me to think clearly, teach faithfully, hear what the Lord wants to do, and respond accordingly. Please pray for students to have safe and smooth travel to Tulsa. And pray for all of us to be fully present to Jesus during our time together. Thank you!

A Thought I often Have about the Difference between Pastors and Physicians

I am interested in the different ways various generations experience the world. This would quickly become a different post, but one way I have been marked through the culture, church, and leadership around me that I experienced is a hunger for leaders in the church who tell the truth with conviction and appropriate emotional intelligence.

I am not talking about saying a hard truth to someone in a way that is callous and hurtful for no good reason. And I am not encouraging saying something with the intention of hurting them or giving offense. That is not what I mean here.

I’d like to share an image I often use in teaching to illustrate what I’m talking about: the difference between pastors and physicians.

Let’s start with physicians:

If I go to the doctor and a test returns very bad news, what happens?

The doctor will tell me the truth in a straightforward and clear way, every single time.

In fact, if the doctor hid a diagnosis to protect my feelings, they could be sued for malpractice.

I am not a medical doctor. But I imagine that having to tell someone that they have inoperable cancer is very difficult. The response the patient has to receiving the news is hard to watch. And though the doctor has not caused the diagnosis, they are the one who is making it known.

But doctors tell the truth, whether they like the truth they have to share or not.

Now, consider pastors:

If a pastor is engaging with someone who is in denial about the impact their beliefs or behavior is having on their life, what do they do?

Well, it seems to me this varies quite a bit.

There are so many different areas of this we could explore. Pastoral care is subjective in a way that a cancer diagnosis or lab result is not, for example. I want to lay the ambiguity aside for the moment. I want to talk about when a pastor knows in their gut something about the person in front of them.

I know myself the temptation to not tell the truth about what I see because I am worried about their feelings. They won’t like what I say. Or, they won’t like me because I made them feel bad.

One common image used to describe pastoral work in the previous eras is “the cure of souls.” If pastors are unwilling to tell the truth to people they are pastoring, their work to cure souls is certain to fail.

This is hard work. I am not saying it is easy. But it is essential for the future health of the church.

I am asking the Lord to raise up a generation of leaders for the church who are so desperate to see people healed and made well through faith in Christ that they become more like physicians.

May the Lord give his shepherds strength and courage to call people to repentance when it is needed, so they can turn around, fight against sin and Satan, and find fresh victory in Jesus.

Kevin M. Watson is a Pastor and the Senior Director of Christian Formation at Asbury Church in Tulsa, OK. He is also on the faculty at Asbury Theological Seminary, anchoring the Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site. His most recent book, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline describes the purpose of the Wesleyan tradition and the struggle to maintain its identity in the United States. Affiliate links, which help support my work, used in this post.

Announcing Asbury Church’s Fellowship Program: Raising Up the Next Generation of Leaders

15 Tuesday Apr 2025

Posted by Kevin M. Watson in Ministry

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Asbury Church, church leadership, Fellowship Program, Tulsa

I have been waiting to share this with you. I am so pumped!

With the blessing of the leadership at Asbury Church, I am starting a Fellowship Program. We will hire two Fellows, which will be full-time paid positions, with benefits, starting this August.

For years, I have had a growing burden to build something that will help raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. I want to build what I would have wanted when I was just getting started in ministry. I was so hungry for mentors and had the hardest time finding them when I was starting out in ministry.

The Asbury Fellowship Program will be a blessing to the Fellows. The purpose of the Fellowship Program is not to bring people to Asbury Church to serve us. Rather, the purpose is to bring Fellows to Asbury Church so we can serve them.

That does not mean the Fellowship Program will be easy. Growth and development can, at least at times, be painful. The Fellowship Program will be an intentional season of accelerated growth, where Fellows are pushed to grow as followers of Jesus Christ.

I am also excited about this because my time in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been such a blessing to me. I love having a foot in Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa Extension Site and one on the Asbury Church pastoral team. I love being at Asbury Church. My faith has grown here. I have been strengthened and sharpened here. I am grateful for the leadership of Rev. Andrew Forrest, Asbury Church’s Senior Pastor, and Rodney Adams, the Executive Director.

I am best at inviting people to things I enthusiastically believe in and I enthusiastically believe in what Jesus is doing at Asbury Church!

I believe the Fellowship Program is a crucial strategy in a time of uncertainty and significant change in American Christianity. The Fellowship Program is an intentional investment in in-person formation. I am certain the problems facing the church in our day will not be solved by applying more technology. On the contrary! We need to invest more fully in relationships in enfleshed spaces. The people I have seen really grow and thrive in their lives in Christ all have one thing in common: They are anchored within a family of faith that provides care, nurture, and discipline. And so, Asbury Fellows will move to Tulsa to be fully present here for two years.

Ok, that is why I’m so excited. Here are more details to help you decide if this is right for you:

Who is Asbury Church?

Asbury Church is a conservative evangelical church from the Wesleyan theological heritage in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Asbury has more than 2,500 people in-person in worship on average each week. We are passionate about figuring out how to do discipleship and evangelism with excellence in Negative World.^[1] (The “Negative World” framework is integral to the Fellowship Program, so you will want to familiarize yourself with it if you don’t know about it and are trying to discern whether this is right for you.)

Asbury Church has the kinds of ministry opportunities you would expect of a church of this size: a pre-school, weekly small groups, kids and youth ministry, recovery ministry, and more. We lean into big events like Christmas Eve and Easter, as well as our own made-up holiday – Celebration Sunday! We are a Bible reading church, which is expressed through Bible reading guides and all church Bible Studies (which are roughly once a month during the school year). We also host a seminary extension site (Asbury Theological Seminary, a separate institution) on our property, which reflects our commitment to theological education and raising up the next generation of leaders for the church. Our commitment to education and formation is further seen in our launch of a Classical Christian School (Asbury Classical School) that is in its first year. And we are known in our community for our commitment to missions in and beyond our community.

What is the Asbury Fellows Program?

The Asbury’s Fellows program is a two-year fellowship that will raise up the next generation of leaders in the church and empower gifted young people who sense a calling to the work of the church. Fellows will explore their calling and be strengthened and equipped to lead in Negative World.

Fellows will also be pressed to grow through mentoring and discipleship. (I am personally most excited about this aspect, which is where I will spend most of my time with the Fellows.) As the Director of the Fellowship Program, I will meet with Fellows weekly for a Wesleyan class meeting experience, one-on-one check-ins, and a monthly book discussion. I love reading and engaging ideas and I want to introduce Fellows to the best books I’ve read on the Christian life, discipleship, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, big ideas about current issues, personal productivity, leadership, and more. The purpose of all of this will be to grow in Christ, ability to lead and disciple others, and be equipped to lead and minister in our changing cultural moment.

Fellows will have a mentor on the Asbury Church staff. They will also receive exposure to every major ministry area at Asbury Church, including Pastoral Ministry, Kids/Students, College/Young Adult, Business Administration, Outreach/Evangelism, Experience, Worship Arts, Communications, and Asbury Classical School. Based on the gifts of the Fellows and the needs of Asbury Church, Fellows will be given ministry assignments and responsibilities.

Asbury Fellows will be present at all worship services (including Wednesday morning communion and Thursday evening), staff chapel, and Wednesday evening discipleship activities, with a “see a need, meet a need” attitude.

Fellows will also observe leadership meetings, attend the monthly pastor’s Bible Study, assist with pastoral care and visitations, and other experiences that serve the Fellow’s growth and development as a ministry leader.

Who is the Asbury Fellowship Program for?

The Asbury Fellowship Program is ideal for people who have at least one year of full-time seminary experience to recent seminary graduates, who intend to go into local church ministry as their first career. The Fellowship Program is for people who are hungry for more of Jesus, want to grow, desire a deeper understanding and experience of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and sense a calling to the work of the church.

Asbury Fellows will be people who love being around Jesus’s church, are excited by the prospect of being immersed in the life of a church for a season, and are eager to serve and participate in the full worshipping life of Asbury Church. Fellows will not only be hungry for more of God, but they will come humble, ready to grow and learn, and be led for a season.

The Asbury Fellowship Program will be a season of accelerated growth for Fellows in their preparation for leadership and administration of the local church. This Fellowship is for people who know they are called to the local church in some sense but may not be sure which part of the church they are called to. This is for people who know they don’t know everything and want to learn from a large and growing church that believes God has more for everyone and is passionate about pursuing joy individually and corporately.

Finally, the inaugural class of Asbury Fellows, in particular, will proactively set the culture for the Asbury Fellowship Program by creating a culture of excellence that will benefit all who come after them.

When will it start?

The Asbury Fellows Program will launch in August 2025. To apply email hr@asburytulsa.org by May 14^th. Include with your application a resume and statement of interest that explains why you want to be an Asbury Fellow based on our description of who we are, who this program is for, and what you would most hope to receive from this experience.

^[1] We believe Aaron Renn’s diagnosis is accurate. The church in the United States is not in Positive World or Neutral World anymore. The dominant culture and elite taste makers overwhelmingly view the teachings of Scripture and those who unapologetically hold to them negatively. For more, see Aaron Renn, Life in the Negative World (Zondervan, 2024) https://amzn.to/4i1PSST (Affiliate link) For the article that led to the book, see Aaron Renn, “The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism” in First Things https://firstthings.com/the-three-worlds-of-evangelicalism/

Announcing My Hire at Asbury Theological Seminary

20 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by Kevin M. Watson in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Asbury Theological Seminary, Tulsa

Asbury Theological Seminary recently announced my hire as Director of Academic Growth & Formation. I am delighted to share this news with you. I am one of many new hires Asbury has made as they continue to strengthen what was already an outstanding faculty. You can read more about some of the new faculty that will be joining Asbury here.

I have felt drawn to Asbury’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site since I first heard about it several years ago. I will continue to teach in my new role. I will also get to work on Asbury’s commitment to introducing students to Wesleyan band meetings. Because of Asbury’s deep Wesleyan roots, the seminary has had a commitment to small group formation as a part of the student experience. These groups give students the opportunity to “watch over one another in love,” as Wesley put it. They also give students experience in leading small groups so they will be equipped to lead dynamic small group ministries where they serve. I am thrilled to get to partner with colleagues in Formation at Asbury to equip students to build community and connection in their ministry contexts and make disciples through these tried and tested small groups.

I have already been energized by the conversations I’ve had with people at Asbury Seminary and Seedbed around band meetings. The resurgence of Wesleyan small group formation in the contemporary church is one of the most encouraging things I’ve seen in the church over the past decade. Asbury has been the key leader in reclaiming this practice, particularly through their vision for Seedbed and New Room.

I will also have the opportunity to work to build Asbury’s Tulsa Extension Site. I think this is what I am most excited about. When I lived in Georgia, people would occasionally press me to transfer my conference membership. Wherever we have lived, I have always had a sense of calling to stay connected to Oklahoma. Tulsa, in particular, has felt like home throughout my life. I am excited to be able to invite students I care about and want to work with to spend some time in a place I love.

As someone who has primarily worked in the academy, but whose heart beats for the local church, experience has shown me how important healthy local churches are to theological education.

Tulsa is the home to not just one but two of the strongest Methodist Churches in the United States (Asbury Church and First Methodist). Each church has a strong and unique heritage. Both churches have also added new senior pastors in the past year. And they are dear friends who are both people I have long said I would love to have pastor my family. Andrew Forrest is just finishing his first year at Asbury Church. And Andrew Thompson has been in place for six months at First Methodist. And these are just two of many churches in the region I believe are on the verge of revival.

I also believe Tulsa provides a model where people who are already serving in local church contexts can be further equipped and strengthened for the work God has called them to without having to leave their ministry context. One of the best ways to learn and grow is by doing. Students at Asbury Seminary – Tulsa will only come to Tulsa for 2.5-day hybrid courses a few times a year. The on campus meetings will be both academically rigorous and spiritually invigorating. The rest of the student’s academic work will be done where they live. This is a model for theological education that puts the needs of the church first without sacrificing academic quality.

I thrive when I am in a context I genuinely believe in and passionately support. I believe in Asbury Theological Seminary and the opportunities at the Tulsa Extension Site. I am eager to work with the students there that God is raising up to lead in the church.

I am also grateful to God for opening a door for me to join the team at Asbury Theological Seminary because tectonic plates are shifting in the culture, the academy, and the church.

During times of significant change and upheaval, the historian in me looks to places that are already tried and tested. Asbury Theological Seminary has demonstrated its commitment to basic Christian orthodoxy, the authority of Scripture, and its value in raising up evangelical Wesleyan pastors for the church for a century. Asbury did this in an environment where it would have benefitted from compromising its values and theological commitments. More than any institution I know of over the past one hundred years, Asbury Theological Seminary has resisted the tendency that besets nearly every institution to drift from its founding commitments.

I experienced how seriously the faculty take stewarding Asbury’s identity and commitments during my candidacy for this position. It was clear to me that this was not a mere formality. Rather, the faculty take ownership of the institution’s identity and commitments with integrity.

And I have loved Asbury’s mission statement since I first read it:

Asbury Seminary is a community called to prepare theologically educated, sanctified, Spirit-filled men and women to evangelize and to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world through the love of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of God the Father.

Let’s go!

Oh, one more thing: Remember how I said that I would love for Andrew Forrest or Andrew Thompson to be my family’s pastor? Andrew Forrest is now my family’s pastor! In God’s goodness to us, I am not only the Director of Academic Growth & Formation at Asbury Seminary, I am also the Scholar in Residence at Asbury Church. Asbury Church, through Tom Harrison’s leadership (who was long-time senior pastor of Asbury Church before Andrew), has always had a strong partnership with Asbury Theological Seminary. The Seminary’s Tulsa Extension Site is located on Asbury Church’s property in the Development Center. I cannot imagine a church more invested than Asbury Church in the future of theological education. I believe it will be essential for many churches to stand up and be counted in the coming years. The church must insist academic institutions entrusted with training women and men for Christian ministry maintain an unwavering commitment to biblical orthodoxy and an unabashed commitment to the ongoing formation of those students in the likeness of Jesus Christ as they are learning, growing, and leading in the church.

If you or someone you know is considering seminary, please reach out! I would love to talk with you about Asbury’s many degree options and how they can help you grow in your calling.

Kevin M. Watson is Director of Academic Growth & Formation at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is anchored at the Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site.