The Returning Worker

 The return of workers from ministry to once again being a part of their mother church has a unique set of challenges. 

1. Those pulled from their church for moral failure need to get right with God, and learn to submit to their pastor and their brethren. Like any backslider who comes back, they will go through a time when they feel nothing and they question why they should stay at all. They no doubt have marriage issues and family issues to deal with. They definitely have spiritual issues to deal with. They may find themselves in the wilderness wondering what to do now.

2. Those who return because of illness or discouragement have a different set of issues to deal with. Of course the illness issue means getting treated for that illness and getting well. But still, they will struggle over feeling like a failure who could have succeeded if only their body had not betrayed them. Those who were discouraged no doubt feel like a failure. They feel like they might have wasted those years they spent being a disciple. They might feel like why try, or what now. They dream about what they could have done if they had gone to university and started a career. They can blame their pastor and their church for leading them down an emotional path that didn't work.

A returning man who finds his place and who finds ministry opportunity in his mother church is rare indeed. A returning man who isn't bitter is rare indeed. And if he is not too old, a returning man may be given another chance.