Joshua Pfeiffer

As a pastor, within the space of the same year, I once conducted the wedding of a young couple as well as the funeral of their stillborn child. I was called to minister to them with God’s Word, prayer, and blessing, in a time of exuberant joy as well as intense grief within a relatively short period of their lives. It’s hard to imagine many other situations that involve such a dramatic shift in emotion and experience, both for the couple and for those who supported them. Yet, in many other, often less dramatic ways, pastors are with people in both the highs and lows of life––at their best and at their worst. So, how do pastors deal with this aspect of their calling?