In his preface to one of the great puritan classics, The Reformed Pastor, William Brown wrote, “There is no class of the community on which the prosperity of the church of Christ so much depends as on its ministers”. In other words, as goes the ministry, so goes the church. Given that, each of us should have a personal, vested interest in the state and condition of that ministry, since it so directly impacts not only the care and feeding of our own souls, but also the souls of those whom we love and care about most deeply. John Stott has wisely written, “The ministry you get is the ministry you deserve, and the ministry you deserve is the ministry you demand!”. Yet few seem to know, or be able to explain, what exactly constitutes a good minister, or the kind of ministry that we ought to expect. Nowhere is the heart and soul of pastoral ministry more clearly articulated or more passionately defended than in this important letter. We begin this week with an introduction and overview of the letter entitled, “A Church that had Lost its Way”, looking at selected scriptures from the Corinthian correspondence.