Pastors, is your flock not showing you the honour you deserve ...
...then why not consider nominating yourself as the "featured pastor" at the Australian Pastors blog? You can also vote in the "How would you describe yourself" as a pastor poll. There were only two votes in the "emerging" category when I dropped by!
If that's not quite your cup of tea, have a read of this! It comes from Preaching Re-imagined by Doug Pagitt from Solomons Porch Community.
The book which this quote comes from is well worth a read, especially if you find yourself challenged by the role and purpose of the sermon in fellowship life. I might post a little more about this book later on.
The pastorate has changed dramatically over the centuries. Once primarily thought of as a calling, it's now often seen as a career. This professionalization of the pastorate has had an interesting impact on both pastors and parishioners...
I've talked to medical doctors who are bothered by the amount of health care information that's available on the Internet. One doctor said, "I have a more difficult time doing my job when people come to me with a self-diagnosis and treatment plan already in mind. I'm the professional. They simply cannot learn what I know just because they look on the internet." This frustration, while real to doctors, leaves them in the minority. People make better patients and healthier people when they're more involved in understanding their health. The medical profession must train doctors to know how to interact with the changing patient of the information age...
There are far too many pastors who take this same perspective - feeling threatened by the idea that regular people might have something to contribute to the spiritual formation of the community. but it's a good thing when people want to be more engaged in their spiritual lives. Look - churches will always need pastors., just as patients will always need doctors. Thus it's logical to expect that as the medical profession needs to adjust to its expectations of its patients, the pastoral profession should also be willing to rethink the role of the parishioner in the life of the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment