Is the ministry a vocation?

Most of us think of a "vocation" meaning a job, or at least a field of interest. An age-old complaint from church members is that their pastor treats the ministry as a job, not a calling. But the word "vocation" comes from the Latin verb "vocare", meaning "to call out".

How ironic! Not only that, but we tend to view "vocational schools" as ones not leading to a profession. A job hopefully, but not a profession. Professionals go to college, right?

We'd do well to remember the Latin root and realize that the "vocation" or "job" of the ministry is indeed a calling. On the other hand, we do expect ministers to do their best to see beyond the daily grind and to give their vocation a more spiritual emphasis than we congregatiuon members do. It's not fair, perhaps, but we do seem to expect that. You might say that we expect members of the clergy to make us think that their vocation is not a job. What?

Vocation -- job -- calling -- profession.  It's all quite confusing once we stir the colloquial pot, mix up their use, and ignore their root meaning.

Why people leave churches

Dr. Richard J. Krejcir, a church consultant, in his "Why Churches Fail -Part 1" article says that in his study of over 1,000 churches for more than 10 years, he found that people who leave a church other than to move out of the area do so because of:

• Conflict or gossip in the church
• Hypocrisy and judgemental attitudes and actions of the leadership
• A lack of hospitality or concern
• Unwillingness to deal with sin.
  People need a place to feel at home and to grow in their faith; a place that helps them cope with the sins of the world -- their sins.

Krejcir says that we should be stressing:

• Prayer
• Bible literacy and it relevance
• Discipleship

We should avoid trying to add "consumers" of Christianity to the pews instead of participants and disciples. He says we go for what's glitzy, what's popular, what the most "mod". We concentrate on dumbing down worship to the pew-sitters instead of encouraging the congregation to worship God. We put the focus on ourselves instead of God, he says.

• Why Churches Fail - Part II
  Are you willing to take a hard look at why people are not attending your church?

Multitasking slows you down

An October 2001 study reported in the "Journal of Experimental Psychology" informs us that the brain takes extra time "switching gears" when we switch tasks.

"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once."
– Samuel Smiles

A recent broadcast on National Public Radio discussed University of Michigan research that found it takes people longer to accomplish a series of tasks if they multitask than if they do them one at a time. Multitasking slows you down. Many (most?) people believe that multitasking is faster, but in reality it is not.

In addition, humans we remember and learn differently when we multitask.

"To do two things at once is to do neither."
– Roman sage Publilius Syrus

Microsoft suggests several problems with multitasking. Among them:

• Interruptions break user concentration and thus hurt longer-term tasks. Why? Users often can't tell which interruptions need to be handled right away, making it hard to maintain current task flow.
• To successfully complete tasks, you need to know when to stop a current task and return to one you have on hold. Researchers have found that people often pause tasks while waiting for some outside event, for example an expected email or phone call. They then wanted to resume the original task as immediately after the interrupting event. But ...
• People have trouble getting back on task after shifting their attention away."

Multitasking problems have even crept into churches. For example, one pastor had a habit of shouting over the last hymn as we closed the worship service. But paying attention to his words meant paying less attention to (or stumbling over) the words of the hymn. If a hymn is important enough to sing, it is important enough to concentrate on. We should pay more attention to the words (text message) of hymns, not less (but that's another topic).

Even church staff members need to focus on one task at a time as much as possible. Acting against that goal are an always-open email program or email notifier, an open instant messenger (IM), constant visitors, phone calls, etc. So Pastors and church managers, help your church staff focus. Seek to lessen interruptions to their tasks and they'll get more done in the same amount of time. They'll also appreciate the reduced stress.

PBS airs pioneer evangelist story

A conservative Protestant evangelist who knew how to pull in people and win souls. Pastor of one of America's first megachurches. Pioneer of Christian radio. Divorced at a time when divorce was a stigma (a topic for another day).

Canadian farm girl Aimee Semple McPherson (Sister Aimee) mixed religion and entertainment like nobody before her.

You can watch the PBS program on Sister Aimee Monday, April 2, at 9pm.

Other links:

• Sister Aimee (online UM Reporter site)
• Aimee Semple McPherson (Wikipedia)
• Photo Gallery
• Kidnapping of Aimee Semple McPherson

UMC should clean house

Rev. Mark Schaefer, in his sermon-containing blog, daydreams about the United Methodist Church swooping down on American University, dissolving the board of trustees and just starting over.

His sermon, "Grapes and Vineyards", starts out with that musing. But the musing points out the denomination-owned aspect to many Methodist properties.

... Something to think about ... but it assumes that the denomination administrative structure has the "cure". It sometime seems that the administrative structure makes secular decisions when spiritual ones are needed.

We seem to have an undue emphasis on protecting the "job security" and "pay" of clergy. The UMC denomination leadership sometimes appears concerned more about district, conference, and denomination politics than members themselves. Maybe if we were all concerned more about the spiritual health and needs of congregations and their surrounding communities, we'd be growing in numbers as we grew in faith and saved souls.

Looking like a pastor

The "This isn't what I ordered" blog by a young Methodist pastor from Ohio talks about expectations of pastors in "More pastor expectations: Episode V" (what does a pastor look like?).

The posting addresses several issues. For example, at Annual Conferences, "There are racial minorities, there are the non-gray-haired minorities, and there are the skinny minorities. It's pretty obvious why our health care costs are skyrocketing."

Several interesting comments have been left at the post.

Episcopalians get first female bishop

Bishop K. Jefferts Schori became the first woman anywhere in the Anglican denomination to become a bishop. She is now primate of the U.S. Episcopal Church.
Seven dioceses in the U.S. have refused to accept her authority. Her call for healing and wholeness is therefor totally understandable.

• Conservative Anglicans warn of church split
• Profile of Bishop Schori
• Bishop Schori makes church history
• BBC video, including excerpt from speech by Bishop Schori

Some pastors dislike "emerging church"

What's "the emerging church?" The opensource theology blog defines it as "The church as it takes shape in a post-modern, post-Christendom, post-colonial, and post-evangelical environment".

A recent posting there, "What some pastors and theologians don't like about the emerging church ", lists 13 types of complaints of these pastors and theologians. The gist of the complaints seem to imply that they are what many would refer to as fundamentalists or very conservative Christians. What's the view from the rest of Christendom?

Some related links:

• What is the Emerging Church Movement? Part 8
• An Emerging Church primer
• Emergent Village
• A response to recent criticism
• The Emergent Mystique (Christianity Today)

IRS vs. All Saints Church

Rev. Ed Bacon, All Saints Church, agrees that churches should not endorse or oppose politicians, but they should not be neutral about political issues and moral courses of action.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state." It would be mighty hard to be the conscience of the country if clergy could not speak about the country's rights and wrongs.

The IRS is examining whether sermons at the church violated laws that pertain to non-profit religious organizations. This action follows in the shadow of a prior year's uproar about a Pastor and congregation that voted out members who didn't support President Bush. The Pastor later resigned.

Read what the current fuss is all about:

• All Saints’ Rev. Bacon Takes On the IRS (TruthDig)
• "If Jesus debated Senator Kerry and President Bush", Rev. Regas'2004 sermon
• "Neighborly love is never neutral", Sept. 2006 sermon by Rev. Bacon

Related links in this blog:

• Is America becoming a theocracy?
• Faith vs. a political agenda

Update (10/14/2006):
The "Faith in Public Life" blog picked up part of this posting and several others in a more in-depth posting. Faith in Public Life postings usually also include videos.

Pope not infallible

There seems to be not just a hue and cry about the negative comments about Islam by Catholic Pope Benedict XVII. The FaithFul Progressive blog says that this is also the second lapse of judgement by the Pope and the second religion he has offended. The Pope also got it wrong in his Auschwitz address, the Faithful Progressive says.

Some call the "infallibility"of the Pope into question. But those who do so may misunderstand the meaning of papal infallibility. Every act of the Pope is not considered infallible, only his ex cathedra teachings. So Popes as well as Presidents can "blow it" and show lack of good judgement. "Is the Pope Infallible?" asks Daniel Enberger's article in Slate magazine. "Only when he says he is", the subhead reads.

Other comments to "Pope 'Deeply Sorry' for His Offensive Remarks" point out that the Pope's remarks, no matter how well intended, were poorly chosen and serve only to encourage the extreme religious right in their mistaken belief that Islam is more violent than Christianity.

Europe experienced religious wars, the Crusades were by Catholics, and millions have been killed in the Americas in the name of religion. The blog postings even point to morally bankrupt practices of early California missions.

Empower, equip, encourage

"Discipleship Journal's" article, "The power of encouragement", deals with encouraging people to come to Christ. But that article also started me thinking about empowering a congregation to carry out God's work.

A wise and well-liked pastor at a prior Methodist church told me that Methodist pastors should not be dictators in the churches to which they are assigned. Rather, they should empower, equip, and encourage the saints of the church to do God's work. Pastors who adopt that philosophy strive to leave churches with lay leadership that is better and stronger than when they arrived. That isn't likely to happen if the local "leadership" is spoon-fed tasks, seldom sees suggestions adopted, or is seldom allowed to act on their own ideas.

When pastors change at churches, congregation members and the church's leadership need to be flexible enough to allow for some changes. But Pastors also need to make allowances for a congregation that is not exactly like the one they left. A pastor in another state relates that a Candler School of Theology faculty member once said,

"There are only two things that Pastors should change the first six months they are they are at a new church -- their address and their underwear."

While that was obviously intended to be humorous, it contains wisdom. It is very helpful if pastors get to know church members, traditions, and the reasons behind practices at the new church to which they are assigned before they start suggesting changes, especially major ones.

Sometimes it seems as though Methodist pastors forget that they are only temporarily assigned to a church. The members continue; pastors change. So pastors, go easy about making dramatic changes that may prove harmful to relations with the congregation or ultimately to the Body of Christ at that church.

Working with the church's leadership will prove more beneficial to all concerned than butting heads. A church where authoritarian clergy -- no matter how good the clergy members' ideas and skills -- allow little or no participation in decisions just sets up the church for future failure when that clergy member moves to a new assignment. Church leadership needs the opportunity to actually lead, not just follow.

"Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step." — Samuel Smiles

How well is your church doing at preparing your leaders to continue leading after current clergy members move on? How well is your church doing at empowering, equipping, and encouraging the saints?

Whence comes disunity?

Methodist Scott McKay, writer of the "Grace Happens" blog, says that unity is not the same as no disagreements. And disunity sneaks in with pride, jealousy, resentment, ego, and a desire for control.

Though Scott, a member of the clergy, associates such problems with the church membership, these same unity challenges pertain to all people associated with a congregation, clergy included. None of us are immune to the sins of pride or arrogance (for example), though some people do better than others in staving off these diseases of the soul.

His posting ends with a reminder of the invitation to Communion ... love, repentance, and peace.

Pope John Paul called evolution "sound"

During a recent conference, physicist Stephen Hawking reminded the audience that Pope John Paul in 1996 said that Darwin's theory of evolution was "sound" and that it was more than a hypothesis.

So ... creationists disagree with Pope John Paul, it seems.

Church is not the same anymore

In his blog posting, "Difficult but not Impossible", Bishop Swanson of the Holston Conference says, "If there is one thing we know today about 'doing church,' it is that church is not the same today as it was 40, 30, 20, or even 10 years ago." Pastors (and congregations) need to adapt.

So maybe "gimme that ol time religion" is more for singing than following?

Sermon library serves all

Gateway (United Methodist) Church archives sermons online. Some pastors shudder at the thought, though. Why is that; are there solutions?

A big reason for shunning online sermons, some Pastors have told me, is that they fear that serving up Sunday sermons on the web just entices some people to skip attending church on a few Sundays when they might otherwise attend. To help lessen that temptation, Gateway waits a few weeks before adding the sermon online. On May 12th, the April 23rd sermon was the latest posted, for example.

Here's another thought -- people who'd skip church if the sermons were online might skip church anyway. In that case, having sermons online might just reach them with a spiritual message they'd otherwise miss. The up-side of adding sermons online is that the pastoral message reaches more people -- affects more lives. That's what the sermons is for, right?

In fact, consider adding a condensed sermon outline just above the text. It helps people mentally prepare to read the text. So don't hesitate -- archive those sermons online. Reach out into the world!

Wesley Foundations need revival

Chuck Russell, a former Internet Resource Consultant for United Methodist Communications, says that United Methodists really messed up when they let Wesley Foundations flounder and disappear from college campuses.

In "Aging Clergy: Where are the 30-year-olds", he points out that the number of clergy under 35 has plummeted from about 3,220 in 1985 to a lowly 850 now. He quotes a UMNS article. And he lays a good bit of the cause for that at the doorstep of weak or disappeared Wesley Foundation efforts.

UMC membership growth concerns Bishop

Our Membership is Growing, But... is a blog article by Bishop Lindsey Davis, North Georgia Conference, on the Gateway Church [UMC] site.

'God" vs. "He'

"Is God Transgendered?" is a thought-provoking article examination of the United Methodist trend to encourage gender-neutral expressions of God. The result is sometimes such stilted and unnatural language structures as , "May God add God's blessing to the reading of God's Word". Yet many of the same pastors who use these awkward phrasings have no problem saying, "Our Father who art in Heaven". It seems a bit schizophrenic [the Greek schizo (split, divide) + phrenos (mind) = shattered mind]. And if pastors are confusingly schizophrenic about the use of "His" or "Him" when talking about God, does this negatively affect members of the congregation?

Let's all grant that the Bible was written in a strongly patriarchal society. But let's also never forget that Jesus addressed God as Abba (Father) and that we hold God to be the reason Mary got pregnant. That does seem a tad male-like to me.

One key aspect that seems to go unaddressed in this personal pronoun issue is that churches have less men than women. Why would we want to deliberately structure language in a way that will be a turn-off to at least some men? Are we focusing on the wrong gender in our congregations when we jump on the gender-neutral bandwagon? Will that have a net result of reducing male attendance at United Methodist churches even more?

Personally, I assume that when we treat God as male-like it's more so that we can get a better grasp of the unknowable, coupled with the comfort of tradition. God may well be neither male nor female, in our meager understanding of human gender. I really don't care. God is God. I just cringe at stilted, unnatural phrases in my worship and Sunday School.

Pastors that have some need to avoid using personal pronouns for God have an obligation to those to whom they will speak to deliberately construct and then use more natural phrasings. How about, "May God bless this reading of the Word" for example. What would God think about that phrasing? I'm sure She'd be happy with it.

How evolution really works

[Live Science] "... last week a [Catholic] Cardinal told the faithful to pay attention to scientific reason or risk returning to fundamentalism. ... The story of the origin of whales is one of evolution's most fascinating tales and one of the best examples scientists have of natural selection."

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