I’ve made it through two Easters now, and have had a little
time to reflect on my calling as a pastor. Specifically, I’ve taken some time
to look at my call papers, my ordination vows, and St. Stephen’s “Mission
Plan.”
One of the things I’ve learned is that there is always more
to do, and if I’m not careful I’ll try to do all of it. And that would be
great, if my time was infinite and my skills and strengths perfect, but they are
not.
So, below are the bare bones of what a pastor needs to do, the
essentials of our task in ministry, as I understand them at this time.
I’m writing this thinking for folk embarking on first
call, but also as a reminder for myself, because recognizing these bullet
points and doing them are two different things.
Preach Well—You
have to churn out 1,000 words that will come out well orally, are faithful to
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, considers the world as it is, and is contextually
relevant, each week. To do this well
you need to get started early each week—preferably starting the process of
reading and contemplating and questioning the text as early as the Saturday
night the week before (as in 8 days before you preach the actual sermon). I
know, it might seem excessive, but it can shape your week and ensures the
sermon—which must be done—will get done, even if multiple emergencies occur
throughout the week.
Be awake on Sunday—This
means going to bed at a decent time on Saturday night. This means having
everything prepared ahead of time. This might sound obvious, but again, if you
try to do everything, and your time isn’t infinite, you end up doing really
important stuff even at the last minute… then you preach and preside poorly on
Sunday. For that matter, Sunday is Game Day;
the majority of the issues that will arise in your upcoming week will show themselves
on Sunday. If you’re not entirely clearheaded when you initially engage with
these issues they will be harder to resolve later in the week, which means
you’ll be resolving them late in the week… which means you won’t sleep Sunday…
which means you’ll not engage well with the new challenges which arise on
Sunday which means… well you get the idea. Also, your church might start to
think of you as the-jittery-coffee-pastor.
Teach the faith in
multiple venues and ways—Teach the young, teach the old, teach at bars,
teach in your office. We are to equip the saints to act faithfully as the body
of Christ in the world; there are many different types of people with different
needs needing to be equipped. So we teach in a multitude of ways and places for
the sake of the multitudes.
Don’t be afraid to
widen your flock’s perspective—It is
a great temptation to be parochial, after all it makes you more relatable,
and that’s necessary in this job too. But part of being faithful Christians is
interacting with the whole world.
Be kind to your
flock, forgive much—In a wide variety of ways you’ll be hurt by your folk. Modeling graciousness in the face of
such hurts, pointing out bad behavior, but also forgiving much, is part of your
calling as a leader in the church. This may be the hardest part of being a pastor.
Be genuinely
interested in them—Especially as an introvert it is easy to keep things
professional and surface level—in fact Seminary boundaries workshops, while
very valuable and necessary, can foster aloofness. But knowing and caring for your people makes you relatable in a way becoming parochial does not.
Even be interested in
the absent ones—Again, home visits, especially to people you know only
because you pray their names when you pray through the church directory (cold
calls), can be emotionally taxing for introverts, but it's necessary. It is more
personable than a phone call and lets people know the church cares for them
more fully than a parishioner visit (though that should be happening as well).
I know pastors who, if they don’t make 27 home visits a week, ask God to forgive
them for their misanthropy—this seems excessive, but is probably closer to what
you should strive for than you’d want to do without such a goal.
Celebrate with them—A
fair bit of what you do is jump into people’s lives when an emergency happens,
when the worst is upon them. Don’t forget to be with them in the good times
too. It might feel like your time could be better spent, but celebration is
part of being community together too.
Be interested and
involved in the wider church—Again there is a temptation to be parochial,
it scores you points at home, but your ordination is to the church at large. There
is a whole big world of interesting fellow workers out there who can help you
with ministry and who you can partner with. For that matter, the simple fact is the wider church
needs us too.
Remember you are a
person of faith—You got into this gig because you love God and love your
neighbor, or at least yearn to do both. You were whisked away by powerful story,
with an order of service, which orders your life. Don’t lose that. Continue to
read scripture outside of sermon prep. Attend worship services in which you
aren’t presiding. Not only will this feed your soul, but it will also give you
insights into the experience parishioners are having in worship. For example,
it can be tough to make it to Saturday Night services at the church in Edison…
it can be tough for your folk to make it to Sunday Morning too.
