Outside the Church for the Sake of the Church.
After three decades of working in vocational ministry, I took an overdue sabbatical that included personal retreats with a stack of books, meetings with career and life coaches, sitting with a spiritual director, and gathering around fires and tables with confidants, mentors, and friends. It was a necessary reset.
Honestly reflecting on the seasons of wilderness I had navigated over three decades working in and for the local church – this community, broken and beloved at the same time – left me with more questions than answers. I looked up and saw the faces of the people who had shown up in those wilderness seasons sitting around the fire with me, and that’s when it hit me. What I needed more than anything in the world was this band of fellow travelers and brave truth-tellers willing to sit with me and ask hard questions and discuss hard topics without judgment or agenda. What I didn’t need was a program, another service opportunity, or a large group environment, I needed friendship, pastoral care, and guidance — which is exactly what I received.
A quote that has hung in my office and nailed to the door of my heart since I was a young adult comes from the master of words, Henri Nouwen:
“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”
A Free Range Pastor for a Wide Range of People
What if it was possible to step out in faith and offer others what had been so graciously given to me? What if I even felt compelled to do so, despite obvious shortcomings and my own unanswered questions?
Ezekiel 34 came to mind.
“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will shepherd the flock with justice.”
My love for the “capital C” Church is the very thing that sends me out to humbly pursue the sheep. We need each other, we need community, and we’ve never been more isolated. My prayerful hope, through the grace and strength of Christ’s spirit, is to do life with, encourage, and pastor the lost flock.
My name is Ken Leggett, and I’m The Free Range Pastor. A bit about me: I’m in my 50s, happily married to Jeanette Wolf Leggett, who is a retired music therapist and currently works as an executive administrator for the Head of School at St. Paul Academy in Nashville, TN. She loves her kids, friends, and people filling our home ALL the time. We have two young adult children — Ayers and Addie Grace — and a high school-aged son, Keller. I delight in bourbon and fires, people and community, food and wine, the outdoors and back porches, road trips and adventure! I love culture and the kingdom of God.
Vocationally I’m designated as a Community Chaplain in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), on staff with Alliance Ministries in Birmingham, AL. (which offers financial oversight for The Free Range Pastor and a team of like minded ministry associates), and in partnership with a local 12-member Advisory Board that helps prioritize my time and keeps me on mission.
Impact Statements
How did you first experience TFRP?
I was grappling with several major life crises and never felt more alone. - Facebook Kevin
What made you want to meet with him or continue?
I feared that my past would turn him away instead he embraced with arms wide open. - Wilco Participant
How have you experienced Jesus as a Shepherd because of meeting TFRP?
He has been there with me since I met the free-range pastor, guiding me toward a deeper understanding of Christ and his peace. - Wilco Participant
Why would you recommend TFRP?
I recommend TFRP because he is ‘da bomb. I recommend TFRP because he helps men see the love of Christ so they can be guided through the rough and good times. Without TFRP I would have never meet crazy people like Don. - Wilco Participant
Why do you love TFRP?
Here’s why I love Wilco right now. I’m depressed that will change in 20 minutes and I’ll feel the love of God and the security that he gives me I’m fighting cancer and on my second month of chemo. I’m an isolated extrovert. I also survived a Widow maker heart attack I woke up to Ken praying Psalm 23 over me with breathing tubes and a heart stent and in ICU for five days. And I even quit dipping Copenhagen after 33 years. It’s been a rough year but Ken and my church in the fellowship of my brothers from Wilco and my sisters from Wilco PM have been by my side and pointing me to Christ. - Don Admire
Outside the Church for the Sake of the Church.
After three decades of working in vocational ministry, I took an overdue sabbatical that included personal retreats with a stack of books, meetings with career and life coaches, sitting with a spiritual director, and gathering around fires and tables with confidants, mentors, and friends. It was a necessary reset.
Honestly reflecting on the seasons of wilderness I had navigated over three decades working in and for the local church – this community, broken and beloved at the same time – left me with more questions than answers. I looked up and saw the faces of the people who had shown up in those wilderness seasons sitting around the fire with me, and that’s when it hit me. What I needed more than anything in the world was this band of fellow travelers and brave truth-tellers willing to sit with me and ask hard questions and discuss hard topics without judgment or agenda. What I didn’t need was a program, another service opportunity, or a large group environment, I needed friendship, pastoral care, and guidance — which is exactly what I received.
A quote that has hung in my office and nailed to the door of my heart since I was a young adult comes from Henri Nouwen
“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”
A Free Range Pastor for a Wide Range
of People
What if it was possible to step out in faith and offer others what had been so graciously given to me? What if I even felt compelled to do so, despite obvious shortcomings and my own unanswered questions? Ezekiel 34 came to mind.
“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will shepherd the flock with justice.”
My love for the “capital C” Church is the very thing that sends me out to humbly pursue the sheep. We need each other, we need community, and we’ve never been more isolated. My prayerful hope, through the grace and strength of Christ’s spirit, is to do life with, encourage, and pastor the lost flock.
My name is Ken Leggett, and I’m The Free Range Pastor. A bit about me: I’m in my 50s, happily married to Jeanette Wolf Leggett, who is a retired music therapist and currently works as an executive administrator for the Head of School at St. Paul Academy in Nashville, TN. She loves her kids, friends, and people filling our home ALL the time. We have two young adult children — Ayers and Addie Grace — and a high school-aged son, Keller. I delight in bourbon and fires, people and community, food and wine, the outdoors and back porches, road trips and adventure! I love culture and the kingdom of God.
Vocationally I’m designated as a Community Chaplain in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), on staff with Alliance Ministries in Birmingham, AL. (which offers financial oversight for The Free Range Pastor and a team of like-minded ministry associates), and in partnership with a local 12-member
Advisory Board that helps prioritize my time and keeps me on mission.
