DR. RAMON CANALS URGES PASTORS TO BUILD WITH RESILIENCE
DR. RAMON CANALS URGES PASTORS TO BUILD WITH RESILIENCE
[Photo: Dr. Ramon Canals and wife]
BABCOCK UNIVERSITY, Nigeria — June 30, 2026 — “When leaders stop assuming, we create space for God to speak through His people.” With this statement, Dr. Ramon Canals, Secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association, challenged pastors to listen first, assume less, and lead with emotional resilience during a leadership session at the West-Central Africa Division Bible Conference and Leadership Summit, held at the Babcock University Amphitheatre.
Dr. Canals drew on the “Lombard approach”—a principle of raising one’s voice above noise—to illustrate the pastoral challenge of leadership. In ministry, he explained, the “noise” is assumptions, pressure, and expectations. The pastoral task is not to amplify that noise but to lower it by listening intentionally, ensuring leaders address real needs rather than imagined ones.
Referencing 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NIV), Dr. Canals emphasized that Scripture equips pastors for resilience: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” He reminded leaders that emotional resilience is not instant but formed over time through the shaping work of Scripture.
“Emotional resilience is built with time,” he noted. “You are not equipped for every good work overnight. It is built through teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training—the very work of Scripture in a pastor’s life.”
Dr. Canals cautioned against equating busyness with strength, urging pastors to be “thoroughly equipped” by God’s Word rather than pretending to have all the answers. Ministry, he warned, breaks down when leaders project motives onto members instead of asking questions.
He concluded with three guiding principles for pastoral leadership: presence, patience, and Scripture. “That is how resilience is formed,” he said, “and that is how we lead without burning out.”
The session was part of the WAD Bible Conference and Leadership Summit, themed “Grounded in the Bible, Focused on the Mission,” convening pastors, scholars, and leaders from across West-Central Africa to refocus on biblical ministry in a complex, noisy world.
By Josephine Akarue
Deputy Director of Babcock University’s
Department of Communication, Media and Branding
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