Am I disqualified from pastoring?
I am a Protestant Evangelical Christian. Jesus saved my soul when I was seven years old. I felt called to preach. As a teen, I served in multiple roles around our Baptist Church, I even preached on special occasions. At 17, I began attending and eventually completed a two year, non-accredited Biblical Studies and Church Administration program. I was ordained at 20, but after a series of events, several close unexpected deaths of people I was close to, my mother become an addict again, I lost my faith.
During that season, when I was 23, I was dating a Christian woman from a very wealthy family (10M +). We partied together and now have a son who is almost 20. We were never married. The family wanted to protect their finances, which I never cared about or asked for, but I was falsely accused of things that have kept me from my son for years. Now, he and I do not have a relationship.
God brought me back to faith at the age of 26, I’m almost 44 now. I have a passion for working with the lost and those that are struggling. My wife and I have been together almost 20 years, we have three amazing daughters together. During that time, I’ve taught Sunday school or lead discipleship groups for several churches. For five years we helped lead a vibrant marriage ministry. We helped with a Wesleyan church plant in a metro area and were small group leaders there for 10 years, before God called us to our current church where we serve as lay leaders and teach. I now hold and undergrad in Religion and Entrepreneurship and a graduate degree in Education. I’ve been praying for years about returning to college to complete a Masters of Clinical Health Counseling and a Masters of Divinity with the goal to pastor/church plant and to run a counseling practice.
Technically, I’m the husband of one wife. We have children who are growing in their faith.
However, I’m struggling with moving forward in my education if I’m unqualified to lead a local congregation.
Being transparent, I don’t know if a local congregation would accept the fact I have an estranged son.
I do not want to cause division, but ai am called to preach and to teach.
Should I just complete a counseling degree and work with individuals and families?
I would love to hear from Pastors who are apart of blended families or may have had a period where they lost their faith. Thank you for reading.