Five Questions for Clayton Blackstone
Interviewed by Justin Nash
Rev. Clayton Blackstone grew up on a family farm in Aroostook County in northern Maine. His grandfather was a farmer and pastored the Dunntown Advent Christian Church for 42 years. The family’s deep heritage of faith was modeled and passed along to Clayton who became a Christian at eight or nine years old under the preaching of Rev. Larry Ross. That the call to pastoral ministry was clear early in his life was evidenced when in the fifth grade Clayton had to write a paper on what he wanted to be when he grew up. He wrote that he wanted to be a pastor. He met his wife, Hazel, while a student Berkshire Christian College and they married the year after Clayton graduated.
His first pastorate was at Berea Advent Christian Church in Smoaks, S.C. He would go on to pastor churches in Friendship, Maine; Lewiston, Idaho and Bangor, Maine. He served 22 years as pastor of the Bangor Advent Christian Church until he retired after 45 years of pastoring churches. Over those years he developed passion for mentoring and caring for other pastors. He served in various conference leadership positions in his career, most notably serving the Maine State Conference as Pastor to the Pastors. He has also written one book and numerous magazine articles. He continues writing, some pulpit supply and serving pastors through mentoring and counsel. He and Hazel retired to Massachusetts and are enjoying the time they have with their two adult children and nine grandchildren.
What's the one big thing you got right in ministry?
CB: In the early stages of pastoral ministry, I was conscious of several pastors crashing and burning. Some of them over moral issues and some of them emotional and spiritual health issues. So, one of things I prayed for was that God would give me the strength and the grace to maintain faithfulness to my marriage commitment to Hazel. As I look back on what I prayed in those early days, I am grateful that prayer was answered.
The last thing that comes to mind is more directly related to pastoral ministry. Names began to come to me during my morning prayer time and I started acting on that. In the beginning, I would pick up the phone and call the person during the course of the day just to check in. Later on, since I’ve retired, it’s been more texting and e-mail. I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, so I don’t pretend I’ve got some grand revelation, “God told me to call you or text you.” Sometimes the person responds with “Thanks but there’s nothing up,” and sometimes with “Man, was that ever well timed.” When I look back on the ministry part of things, I look back and think that is one think I got right and I’m really glad I did it.
What's the one big thing you got wrong in ministry?
CB: I always thought I needed to be right, and I used my verbal skills to try to control people and outcomes. Winn Collier in his book “Let God” refers to it as an addiction to having my own way. Pastorally, this notion that I was the pastor and I prayed about it, so people ought to just jump on board and follow the leader. I made an awful lot of mistakes in that area as a result. When I got started in ministry, this was the start of the mega-church era with Bill Hybels and some of those guys. Our thinking was that we needed to grow big churches. If I was learning from Bill Hybels then my congregation ought to learn from me. I followed the wrong leader.
What brought you the most joy in ministry?
CB: The answer would depend on whether you ask me this question before or after a conversation I had with Eugene Peterson in 1994. Before that conversation, I would have said that the thing that brought me the greatest joy was a full house on Sunday. If I had a good crowd to preach to on Sunday, then I had a good week. After that conversation with Peterson, the importance of sitting down with people one-on-one over coffee and listening in together on what was going on below the surface and what Jesus might be up to, those kinds of spiritual conversations became the joy. That January conversation happened at Regent College where I attended a week-long course taught by Peterson. As a result, I took off my watch because one of the things that was happening was I’d sit down with people and I’d have blocked off an hour. I stopped doing that so I would be fully present with them and trust that I’d know when the conversation was coming to an end. As result of that, how I pastor changed. That kind of one-on-one personal responses to people would be what brings me the greatest joy.
I know there may be something about someone else’s style that you may like, but if it’s not consistent with your personality, it’s not going to work. Find your own voice.
What advice would you give someone just starting out in ministry?
CB: For the guy just starting out, one of the first things I would tell him, and this is what someone told me: find some way to put five hundred or a thousand dollars a year into retirement. The compounding of interest is a whole lot more if you start doing it at 25 than if you start doing it at 50. Unfortunately, most guys wait until their families have left until they put money aside.
Also, when I began to preach, I emulated guys like Larry Ross and Ron Walton who were my favorite camp meeting speakers in those days. After I got into pastoral ministry, I’d go to preaching conferences and seminars. Some famous preacher would be there, and without realizing it, I’d pick up and mimic some of their mannerisms or something about their style. It took me a while to acknowledge this tendency and work on my own voice. So, one of the things I’ve said to the young guys starting out is to work on developing your own voice. I know there may be something about someone else’s style that you may like, but if it’s not consistent with your personality, it’s not going to work. Find your own voice.
What is the one thing you wish you were better at as a pastor?
CB: I wish I had been better at being fully present with the congregation when I was their pastor. I spent way too much time over the years dreaming about the next mountain to climb or pastoring a large congregation. It took me way too long to be fully present.
The other thing is that I wish that I had learned to practice Sabbath. I mean by that something different than just taking a day off and doing whatever. I mean really attending to what God was up to in my soul, turning off my cell phone, my computer and the television. Instead, walking, doing something that put me out in touch with nature where I could do a prayer walk. That would have been the other thing, because I never really succeeded in doing that, but I wish I had.
Justin Nash, “Five Questions for Clayton Blackstone,” The Advent Christian Witness, Spring 2021