In the fantasy world of Orlando -- where theme parks and holidays are the rule -- how do you make an impact on the real life needs of people? As pastor of First Baptist Church since 19xx, Jim Henry has preached and loved his way into the hearts of thousands. In the process, the traditional downtown church has exploded in growth, moving to an expansive suburban location and drawing people from throughout the region. In recent years he was elected twice to serve as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. An original member of Preaching's Board of Contributing Editors, Jim recently sat with the editor of Preaching to discuss the role a pastor's heart can have on the preaching of the Word.

Preaching: Whenever I have had the opportunity to hear you preach, there seems to be a real pastoral quality to your preaching. As you preach, you seem to have a strong connection, a bond with the people in your congregation. How do you, in your own ministry, connect those roles of pastor and preacher?

Henry: I think part of it came from the way I was raised. The first pastor that really impressed me was at First Baptist Nashville was Dr. Powell. That was a big church in those days. I was just a little eight or nine year old kid when I started there. In fact, he baptized me. He took an interest in me personally. He brought me bubble gum after World War II when you couldn't get good bubble gum. He gave me an autographed Bible.

I'd go by and see him on Sundays. He would say, "Go to my office; there is some King Leo stick candy." In those days it was rare to get and I knew there would always be a piece of candy up there. He was a hero to me -- he loved me. And of course, when I was called into the ministry, my pattern really had been stamped in a sense by Dr. Powell. I hadn't connected it all until recent years. I got to thinking about why do I do certain things and I go back to Dr. Powell. I've had some other pastors, but that was an impressionable age. I heard him preach but he pastored me, too.

I realize that in preaching if I'm not where the people are and not engaged with them, then I'm probably not going to connect with them. God has given me a love for people -- to reach out to people and be reached by people. I love people. So when I became a pastor, I was engaged with the people their families from the very beginning: hospitals, weddings, deaths, standing around afterwards shaking hands. Having coffee, eating lunch or dinner with them just was part of my routine. I did not know any better. I thought that was what you did.

Then as the churches grew that I was in, I tried to keep that connection and it became more difficult because your leadership role changes. You become more of a vision caster, the administration piles up. The fact that you've been at a place a certain amount of time, it's kind of like a snow ball. You get more people that want you to write a letter of recommendation for them or they want to get into school. You get more of that just by being there -- you get asked to do more things. But I still realize that I can't pastor or preach to these people if I don't keep doing this. So I find some other ways to try to stay connected. For instance, after the services, I'm usually the last one to leave. Not always, but usually I'll stand around on Sundays and Wednesdays just to be with the people. They know I'm there. Or I will have a reception line where people can come by. But I am going to be available. If somebody wants to tell me something or introduce family or a friend, I want to be there.