The Shepherd's Table — Part 2
You Spend Your Life
Carrying People.
Who Helps Carry You?
Pastoring people is sacred work. It can also be heavy.
Betrayal. Comparison. Expectations. Consumerism. Limited resources. Vicarious trauma. Leading people through their pain while managing your own.
The Shepherd's Table is two hours where you don't have to perform.
Come eat. Reflect. Pray. Talk. Listen. Breathe.
And remember that shepherds need shepherding too.
September 19, 2026 · 8–10 AM · Jacksonville, FL · Only 25 Seats
Breakfast provided · P4 journal + gift experience · No cost to attend
Pastors Carry Things
Nobody Sees.
You celebrate people's victories.
You bury their loved ones.
You counsel marriages.
You answer crisis calls.
You absorb criticism.
You carry vision.
You manage expectations.
And sometimes you do all of it while you're hurting too.
The Shepherd's Table creates room for the conversation pastors rarely get to have:
What is leading people doing to the person who is doing the leading?
This isn't about church size.
It isn't about denomination.
It isn't about how many people follow you online.
If you are carrying the responsibility of shepherding God's people, there is a seat at this table for you.
We Can Talk About
The Real Stuff Here.
Vicarious Trauma
What happens when you repeatedly carry the pain, crisis, grief, and trauma of the people you serve?
Betrayal
What do you do when the people you loved, served, trusted, or developed become part of your pain?
Comparison
How do you remain faithful to your assignment when everyone else's ministry is one scroll away?
Consumerism
How do we shepherd people in a culture that increasingly approaches church like a product?
Under-Resourced Leadership
How do you lead what God gave you when your vision seems bigger than your people, money, staff, or capacity?
Leading While Broken
What happens when the shepherd needs care too?
No pretending. No posturing. No competition. Just pastors around a table.
Pause. Pray. Perceive. Proceed.
The morning will be guided in part by the P4 Devotional, creating space to slow down long enough to pay attention to what is happening in us—not just around us.
Pause.
Stop carrying the room for a moment.
Pray.
Bring the leader—not just the ministry—before God.
Perceive.
Pay attention to what your soul, body, relationships, and leadership may be telling you.
Proceed.
Leave with greater clarity, connection, and hope for the road ahead.
Sometimes the next faithful move isn't doing more.
Sometimes it's becoming still enough to know what you need.
What Does Trauma-Informed
Shepherding Look Like?
We'll introduce Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI)—a trauma-informed, attachment-based approach developed to help people build connection, create felt safety, meet underlying needs, and respond to behavior with greater understanding.
In simple terms:
TBRI helps us ask, “What does this person need?” before simply asking, “What is wrong with this person?”
And that matters for pastors too.
We'll explore how the foundational ideas of:
Connection. Empowerment. Correction.
can inform the way we care for ourselves, lead teams, shepherd families, and create safer churches.
Two Hours.
No Stage To Perform On.
- 8:00 AM
Breakfast + Connection
Coffee, breakfast, conversation, and time to settle into the room.
- 8:15 AM
P4 Reflection + Prayer
Devotional reflection, journaling, silence, and prayer.
- 8:30 AM
The Reality of Leading People
An honest facilitated conversation about the hidden weight of ministry.
- 9:00 AM
TBRI + Trauma-Informed Shepherding
A practical introduction to connection, felt safety, empowerment, and trauma-informed leadership.
- 9:20 AM
Around the Table
Conversation, questions, shared wisdom, and resources.
- 9:45 AM
Prayer + What's Next
Prayer for pastors and an invitation into continued community.
- 10:00 AM
Go Be The Shepherd God Called You To Be.
If You Shepherd People,
Pull Up A Chair.
The Lead Pastor
You carry the vision—and much of the weight that comes with it.
The Ministry Leader
People depend on you, even when you are running low yourself.
The Church Planter
You're building while carrying responsibilities most people never see.
The Long-Time Shepherd
You've been doing this long enough to know ministry can leave scars.
The Leader Who Is Tired
You don't need another strategy session. You might just need somewhere safe to sit.
Large church. Small church. Traditional. Contemporary. Baptist. Pentecostal. Methodist. Presbyterian. Non-denominational. Independent.
This table isn't built around labels.
It is built around people who have answered the call to shepherd God's people.
You Were Never Meant
To Carry This Alone.
The goal isn't simply to host another event. We want to create community.
A place where pastors can tell the truth.
A place where shepherds can receive shepherding.
A place where leaders can discover resources, relationships, trauma-informed practices, and professional support.
A place where we can remind each other that there is still hope for the church—and hope for the people who lead it.
A licensed mental health professional connected with Flagler College and Welcome Works will be present as part of the morning's support and resource community.
The Shepherd's Table is also an opportunity to learn about ways to remain connected beyond September 19.
Come Sit At The Table.
You don't have to have everything together.
You don't have to bring a success story.
You don't have to impress anybody.
Bring your questions.
Bring your experience.
Bring the parts of leadership you don't normally talk about.
We'll bring breakfast, coffee, a P4 journal, some thoughtful gifts, conversation, prayer, and a room designed to love pastors well.
25 seats. That's it.
Save Your Seat At The Table
Saturday, September 19 · 8–10 AM · Only 25 pastors and ministry leaders