In 2019, David Miranda, David Foster, and Abraham Quinones began dreaming about a place for young pastors and ministers to connect and collaborate. I had the opportunity to be a part of the first meeting at the Texas Baptist building in Dallas, when a group of young ministers gathered from all parts of DFW and from all types of ministry backgrounds. After that initial meeting, I was brought on to help in this task of creating a community for Millennial and Gen Z leaders. 

To see how this network has grown over the past two years is quite humbling. What started in the hearts of a few friends of mine, has become a network of over 200 young leaders from around the state of Texas and beyond, from different denominational backgrounds, and from different ethnicities. One of the first things we began to notice is the amount of talent that was in the group. We have some of the greatest intellectual minds, strategic thinkers, and passionate people who are doing amazing things in their respective ministries. One of the major initiatives that the leadership of the Pastor’s Common began to implement was giving these leaders a platform so that their voices might be heard. We started with video content, then quickly incorporated a podcasting format.

This leads us to today. I was tasked with launching a publication format for the Pastor’s Common that has been many months in the making. We have some talented writers in the network, and we wanted a place for their works to be published. That being said, starting this week, we will begin publishing articles on a weekly basis over a wide spectrum of topics. From pastoral ministry, to leadership, to spiritual formation and beyond, all for the sake of giving these bright leaders a place to share their thoughts and to give them an opportunity to influence the world around us. 

I am reminded of the second giving of the Law in Deuteronomy 4, where we find Moses using the second person singular form of “you” throughout. In this moment, we find Moses about to pass on to glory and no longer be with the new generation that made up the Hebrews. I think he knew that he needed to help this young generation understand the ownership they had in this identity as God’s chosen people. They needed to have a sense of interest in the faith that was handed down to them. They needed to come to grips with the fact that it was their turn to carry the proverbial mantle.