Remembering Pastor Mitchell

 I was thinking about pastor Mitchell this morning. I was thinking about what he preached and how balanced he was in ministry. He appreciated everything people did, not just those who saw big crowds or massive results. He appreciated faithful people, not just zealous new converts. And he appreciated the value of a word fitly spoken. 

One thing that I remember about what pastor Mitchell used to preach was how he went for a time when he preached on worship a lot. He preached often enough that I noticed a pattern developing. It turns out that this was during what was called the worship wars. Also, pastor Mitchell rarely preached on witnessing or evangelism. We were active in outreach and we didn't need to be reminded very often what we were about.

Pastor Mitchell was a well balanced pastor. He did not easily get sidetracked or bogged down. He rarely majored in minors. He seemed to know what the Prescott church needed as well as what the Fellowship needed. Even though he traveled a lot, we had confidence that he would be back home on Sunday morning and that he would set things right again.

Everything that I know about following Jesus and preaching I learned from pastor Mitchell. He not only knew doctrine, he lived it out in real life. He practiced what he preached. He was a great example in marriage, in money, in prayer, as well as in preaching and pastoring.

Our Fellowship is the fruit of pastor Mitchell's ministry. He followed the plan that the Holy Spirit gave him and he never turned to the right or to the left. He was faithful to the end. I owe pastor Mitchell a great debt of gratitude.