Kingdom Partnerships

I’ve always valued & prioritized relationships in my life. As a result, I’ve been blessed with many rich friendships throughout the years. Today, I have text threads with several groups of friends from various seasons of my life. 

When I exchange texts with my high school & college friends, I still see them through the lens of our youth. Back when we were hanging out, the idea of retirement never crossed our minds. We were young, dreaming big, & looking at a future full of possibilities. In those days, our only focus was finding a wife, starting a family & building our careers. 

That seems like yesterday, but it was 40 or 50 years ago. Suddenly, we find ourselves in our mid-60’s. Our work careers are winding down. Our kids are grown & gone. We have grandchildren. There have been many good days & a few bad days – but God has been faithful in each season. Indeed, time flies. 

I became a follower of Christ at age 21 in 1982. I knew that I wanted to “help people” & vocational ministry provided me with daily opportunities to fulfill that desire. Now, I’m 65 years old, the years have flown by & I have an end date in mind. 

In my early 40’s, I discovered what I was put on earth to do. My unique God-design allowed me to be most effective in serving pastors & churches as a coach & consultant. I was able to do that as a pastor on staff at a local church for nearly 15 years before transitioning out on my own to launch Ed Funderburk Ministries (EFM) nine years ago. This last decade has been a blur.

The thing I’m most proud of having served the Lord for 43 years since graduating college: I’m not cynical toward the church despite all I’ve seen. I still believe a healthy local church – led by healthy leaders – is the hope of the world. And, I still believe I have the best job on earth! No one I know loves his work more than I do. 

Ecclesiastes 2:24 – There is nothing better for a man than to find satisfaction in his work. This pleasure comes from the hand of God.

Every pastor deserves a friend who can listen to his challenges & dreams & respond with wisdom & godly counsel. I’m thankful that God has allowed me to be that kind of friend to so many pastors. Since I’m not emotionally attached to their situations or their teams, I can offer objective feedback, input, suggestions & solutions to their numerous challenges.

I’ve said to many lead pastors over the years: “I could never do what you do, but if you’ll allow me to assist you, I can help you do what you do more effectively.” Some of the pastors I serve are hurting deeply – they need encouragement. Others are leading thriving churches – they deserve to be celebrated. I’m grateful to be used by God in either circumstance.

Last year, I stumbled across some notes from the retreat where I wrote my EFM Business Plan. After setting the fees for my initial four services [Coaching, Consulting, Communicating, & Connecting], I committed to “one day” serve churches at no cost. That “one day” arrived earlier this year. 

In January 2026, I took a significant step of faith when I decided to no longer charge coaching fees to the pastors & churches I assist. Instead, I’m 100% dependent on donations to provide my salary & cover my ministry expenses. I plan to continue raising support & work full-time until my 67th birthday in April 2028. My heart’s desire is to finish well.

2 Corinthians 11:8 – I accepted pay from other churches & took their money so that I could serve your church at no cost.

Since 2018, I’ve had some health challenges that impact my quality of life. Here’s how you can pray for me:

(1) I need a restorative miracle so that my bladder contracts as God intended

(2) I want to avoid UTIs that are often brought on by self-catheterizing

(3) I desire to be free of pain that vacillates from moderate to severe 

(4) I would benefit from uninterrupted & deep sleep each night

To compensate, I eliminated ministry travel [Consulting & Communicating] in 2022 & focused solely on coaching pastors from my home office. Even though I reduced the services I offer, God has kept me plenty busy & He has faithfully provided everything we need financially. I’m confident He will continue to take care of us. 

Psalm 73:26 – My health may fail, my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart. He is mine forever.

To better understand what I do as I serve pastors & churches – please read these questions & responses:

How many years has Ed Funderburk Ministries existed? 

I launched EFM in the Fall of 2017 after serving 33 years in pastoral ministry in five different churches. 

How do I assist pastors & churches?

My primary goal as a coach: I want to be easy to talk to about hard things.

 I coach lead pastors, executive pastors & teams, young leaders being groomed for future promotions & a few under-performing staff members who may benefit from an outside voice. 

I encourage pastors to pursue personal & professional health so they can lead & grow healthy, life-giving churches. I provide wisdom, counsel & best practices to those I coach. I offer “emotionally detached” outside perspective – good old-fashioned “common sense.” 

The fruit [by-product] of my work is healthy leaders, teams & churches. Many of the pastors I assist are better positioned to fulfill the assignments they received from the Lord when they were first called to ministry.

What changes have I made to how I serve churches?

 My close friend, Marcus Brecheen, pulled me aside 20 years ago & challenged me: “Ed, in order for you to have the influence you desire, you need to learn to do the opposite of what comes naturally to you.” That proved to be a life-changing conversation. His loving encouragement did not have a one-time application. That instruction has come to my aid on numerous occasions since.

As I was praying about my final two years of full-time work, I realized the “opposite of what comes naturally to me” in this closing chapter of full-time ministry requires living by faith, trusting God more than I trust myself & becoming more flexible & less rigid in how I serve pastors & churches. So, I made a few specific changes to my coaching model. I moved to a less structured, more spontaneous – call as needed – coaching model … all at no charge. 

What type of financial assistance am I requesting?

 I’m trusting the Lord to speak to the hearts of pastors that I’ve previously served to support EFM from their church’s Missions Budget. As a friend, coach, mentor & advocate of pastors – consider me a “missionary to the local church.” 

Pastor Friends: If I’ve been a blessing to you & your church, I’m asking you to: 

(1) “pay it forward” & allow me to help others as I’ve helped you

(2) “invest in me” so I can invest in other pastors & churches

(3) “include EFM” when you prepare your 2027 budget

I’m requesting monthly support, but I’ll gladly receive one-time or end-of-year gifts. And yes, I’ll be available to help you & your team too – but not because of your financial support. I’ll help you because of our history & friendship – simply because you ask.

Current Supporters: I’m grateful beyond words for your generosity thus far. I’m asking that you “continue to give to EFM” through April 2028. It would be a blessing if some of you could “increase your gifts” to provide a financial base to draw from as I continue to live on 100% missional support.

How will I use financial gifts to EFM?

Your gifts allow me to assist pastors who contact me for advice, counsel, resources (articles, documents, relational connections) as well as wisdom in addressing staff challenges & church crises – even growth-related problems. 

Your gifts help cover the essential ministry expenses & operational costs associated with owning a small business (health insurance, bookkeeping, IT assistance, technology & devices, website maintenance).

EFM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry. All gifts received go into a ministry account – not to me personally. The EFM Board determines my salary & benefits which are taken from this account. Because we are debt free, we live quite frugally. That will continue in 2027.

Would you prayerfully consider investing in EFM? 

If you choose to partner with EFM, all gifts are tax deductible. Here are three easy ways to make donations:

Via ACH Connection – complete & return (preferred)

Via EFM PayPal – click on link to donate

Via CHECK – make payable & send to:

Ed Funderburk Ministries
10609 Melrose Lane
Keller TX 76244