Ministers....

I'm thinking about something one of our Minister's shared with me last week. He quoted someone who'd told him 'most young Ministers overestimate what they can achieve in one year, but underestimate what they can achieve in ten.'
It's very appropriate as I'm at our national Settlement Team meetings this week. I've discovered, since I've been part of this group it's often been shrouded in mystery. I confess, as a local Minister, I never gave it a thought and so I'm bemused by those who do. However, basically, we act as the go-betweens between Churches who are looking for Ministers and Ministers who are looking for Churches. Without going into all the details (not because they're secret, but because it's fairly tedious to relate) we go through the Ministers names, one at a time, and their details get sent wherever they request, or a Regional Minister suggests.
Anyway, back to the quote - I'm sitting here thinking why is this only true of 'younger Ministers?' - seems to fit pretty much most.
It's often said a Minister sees the most fruit after they've stayed in one place more than seven years. Of course, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy - in that longer pastorates only tend to occur where there's a good grounding of trust and a n environment of fruitfulness, even if this is yet to show in significant numerical rises. Partnerships which end before then are not necessarily unfruitful, but people move on quicker where there's tension, for whatever reason.