Your poor pastor! I know that pain has to be excruciating, and he must be miserable.

The first thing that popped into my mind was Omega-3 oils. Do you remember that mining accident a few years ago where a young man, 20-something years old, was the only survivor? Well, I just attended a seminar on Omega-3's and they mentioned that the doctor that treated this young man went against usual protocol and gave this man mega-doses of Omega-3's to help him recover. They feared brain damage b/c his brain was deprived of oxygen for an unknown amount of time. However, he fully recovered, and the docs believe it was due to the powerful Omega-3 oils they gave him. I'm just stating this b/c I believe that O-3's work wonders when it comes to nerve damage and repair. They also are very powerful at alleviating inflammation, which is also part of your pastor's problem, probably.
I also found another article which stated that DMSO can help in this situation, alternating with helicrysum essential oil. There were other things in the article, so I'll definitely post it here:
http://cancertutor.com/Other02/Spine.html