Who is a Pastor?
I have talked with friends on several occasions in an attempt to understand exactly who a pastor is and what a pastor does. Someone I respect a great deal gave me a book "A New Beginning for Pastors and Congregations" by Kennon Callahan. I have just started the book, and I need to read more... perhaps if I did, my questions would be answered. However, I have not been able to get past one problematic paragraph that has me stumped. Callahan writes:
"The truth is, the pool of available pastors out there is comparatively small. Some people imagine they can find a young pastor with lots of experience. Few pastors have twenty years of experience yet are only thirty-four years old. Further, among the pastors who are out there are a number still thinking and behaving as though this is a churched culture. They do not seek people out. They spend most of their time inside the church. They wait for people to find the church. Just enough people do so to create the illusion that the long lost churched culture still exists. In our time, a congregation benefits from having a congregational, community, missional pastor, not a professional, churched, cultured pastor" (25).
Now perhaps I am overly sensitive since I am churched and cultured (or so I like to think) and insist on a professional (and educated) clergy. If I am being overly sensitive, I trust you all will point that out. What I have a beef with is the false dichotomy I believe he is setting up. Does one have to be either "congregational, community, missional" or "professional, churched, cultured"? The underlying question is who is a pastor and what does a pastor do?
I have thought about this alot recently. Callahan insists that pastors who spend most of their time "inside the church" are missing the mark. Really? If you asked me my top three priorities as a pastor, I would tell you:
1) I am the lead worshipper. Life in the Kingdom of God revolves around our worship. It is to worship that we are gathered. It is from worship that we are sent. As the lead worshipper, the pastor faithfully preaches the word and rightly administers the sacraments. However, this entails much more than just the Sunday service. It entails visitation of the sick and the homebound, making sure none are neglected. It entails providing care and counsel to those in crisis so they can in good faith hear and receive. The pastor as lead worshipper preaches/teaches, administers the sacraments, visits the sick and shut ins, and provides pastoral care and counsel to those in need.
2) I am the lead visionary. The Jewish prophet’s single task was to call the people to faithfully embrace their identity as the people of God and to live their life together in such a way that they were an embodiment of God’s love and peace in the world. As the lead visionary, the pastor first embodies among the people a different kind of life. In living that kingdom life, the pastor constantly paints a picture of what the Kingdom of God must look like in the context of a particular community. The pastor then is a constant reminder that our mission in the world is to bear witness to the reign of God among us and in our world. The pastor as lead visionary casts a vision and calls the people to embrace the call and embody his kingdom.
3) I am the lead steward. Stewardship is about making sure the people have what they needed to thrive and be healthy. The Church of the Nazarene has designating the pastor as the CEO. The CEO is not a power figure, but rather an administrative figure. The CEO is responsible for the health/success of the organization. This is done by knowing its resources and appropriating them wisely and diligently. Likewise, the pastor must be a faithful steward of the churches resources: passions, gifts, finances, time, facilities, etc. This however, cannot be done alone, every CEO has a primary task of developing leaders to oversee and lead specific areas so that she can see clearly the big picture. The pastor as lead steward develops leaders to oversee the various ministries of the church.
Those three things, patterned after the offices of Christ (Prophet, Priest, and King) comprise the pastor's job description. And guess what. They are all done inside the church. That is not to say that the pastor should be singularly focused inwardly. Quite the contrary. Each of these offices must be approached missionally (we could talk forever about missional worship, vision, and stewardship, but I'm not sure it is necessary here), but it is not the responsibility of the pastor to "seek people out." I am not employeed to "seek people out." That is my duty and passion as a Christian, as it is the duty and ought to be the passion of all who call themselves Christian, but it is not my "job" as pastor. As a pastor my calling, my responsibility, my job is to shepherd the flock and to do so in such a way that the church will be missional.
After all, the very title "Pastor" implies that this person who is called pastor, is called such because there is a people who she/he pastors. That people is called the church. A pastor is only a pastor in as much as she/he is "inside the church." If she/he ceases being "inside the church" (ie the local congregation) she/he ceases being a pastor. Perhaps if we had more "professional, churched, cultured" pastors who embrace their position inside the church to lead worship, cast vision, and administer the resources of that church in a missional way we would have more missional churches.
Am I missing something? Should I not be concerned with Callahan's sentiments? I am being to sensitive or overly nuanced?
"The truth is, the pool of available pastors out there is comparatively small. Some people imagine they can find a young pastor with lots of experience. Few pastors have twenty years of experience yet are only thirty-four years old. Further, among the pastors who are out there are a number still thinking and behaving as though this is a churched culture. They do not seek people out. They spend most of their time inside the church. They wait for people to find the church. Just enough people do so to create the illusion that the long lost churched culture still exists. In our time, a congregation benefits from having a congregational, community, missional pastor, not a professional, churched, cultured pastor" (25).
Now perhaps I am overly sensitive since I am churched and cultured (or so I like to think) and insist on a professional (and educated) clergy. If I am being overly sensitive, I trust you all will point that out. What I have a beef with is the false dichotomy I believe he is setting up. Does one have to be either "congregational, community, missional" or "professional, churched, cultured"? The underlying question is who is a pastor and what does a pastor do?
I have thought about this alot recently. Callahan insists that pastors who spend most of their time "inside the church" are missing the mark. Really? If you asked me my top three priorities as a pastor, I would tell you:
1) I am the lead worshipper. Life in the Kingdom of God revolves around our worship. It is to worship that we are gathered. It is from worship that we are sent. As the lead worshipper, the pastor faithfully preaches the word and rightly administers the sacraments. However, this entails much more than just the Sunday service. It entails visitation of the sick and the homebound, making sure none are neglected. It entails providing care and counsel to those in crisis so they can in good faith hear and receive. The pastor as lead worshipper preaches/teaches, administers the sacraments, visits the sick and shut ins, and provides pastoral care and counsel to those in need.
2) I am the lead visionary. The Jewish prophet’s single task was to call the people to faithfully embrace their identity as the people of God and to live their life together in such a way that they were an embodiment of God’s love and peace in the world. As the lead visionary, the pastor first embodies among the people a different kind of life. In living that kingdom life, the pastor constantly paints a picture of what the Kingdom of God must look like in the context of a particular community. The pastor then is a constant reminder that our mission in the world is to bear witness to the reign of God among us and in our world. The pastor as lead visionary casts a vision and calls the people to embrace the call and embody his kingdom.
3) I am the lead steward. Stewardship is about making sure the people have what they needed to thrive and be healthy. The Church of the Nazarene has designating the pastor as the CEO. The CEO is not a power figure, but rather an administrative figure. The CEO is responsible for the health/success of the organization. This is done by knowing its resources and appropriating them wisely and diligently. Likewise, the pastor must be a faithful steward of the churches resources: passions, gifts, finances, time, facilities, etc. This however, cannot be done alone, every CEO has a primary task of developing leaders to oversee and lead specific areas so that she can see clearly the big picture. The pastor as lead steward develops leaders to oversee the various ministries of the church.
Those three things, patterned after the offices of Christ (Prophet, Priest, and King) comprise the pastor's job description. And guess what. They are all done inside the church. That is not to say that the pastor should be singularly focused inwardly. Quite the contrary. Each of these offices must be approached missionally (we could talk forever about missional worship, vision, and stewardship, but I'm not sure it is necessary here), but it is not the responsibility of the pastor to "seek people out." I am not employeed to "seek people out." That is my duty and passion as a Christian, as it is the duty and ought to be the passion of all who call themselves Christian, but it is not my "job" as pastor. As a pastor my calling, my responsibility, my job is to shepherd the flock and to do so in such a way that the church will be missional.
After all, the very title "Pastor" implies that this person who is called pastor, is called such because there is a people who she/he pastors. That people is called the church. A pastor is only a pastor in as much as she/he is "inside the church." If she/he ceases being "inside the church" (ie the local congregation) she/he ceases being a pastor. Perhaps if we had more "professional, churched, cultured" pastors who embrace their position inside the church to lead worship, cast vision, and administer the resources of that church in a missional way we would have more missional churches.
Am I missing something? Should I not be concerned with Callahan's sentiments? I am being to sensitive or overly nuanced?
posted by EF + at 2:20 PM
1 Comments:
I've yet to read any of Callahan's books, but I have had a few conversations with him and might be able to shed some light on this subject.
1. Most pastors I know have a passion to reach the lost. The problem is that it has been a long time since they, themselves, were "lost". They forget what attracts people to our lifestyle. Most pastors, though not all, were raised in the church - and unless that church consistently reached out to the lost, there is no model or example for the pastor to move beyond the four walls of the church to "reach" people.
2. Pastor as office vs. Pastor as gopher. Many pastors I know are stuck inside the church building because, for whatever reason, the church has allowed the pastor to be the one in charge of all the maintenance. It is the pastor's job to vision, create, develop, and run various programs for those inside the church. To me this is very hurtful to both the pastor and the church as the pastor becomes acclimated to doing stuff over being relational and the church loses the accountability it needs in their various responsibilities.
I do not necessarily agree with your third point through how I am reading it. I think part of the problem is that when pastors think of themselves as lead stewards, that the church removes itself from a very distinctive spot of accountability and makes the pastor's noose that much tighter. Pastor's should be balanced on their vision with resources and such, but that is part of what the church board's duty is. In the past two months, I have had at least two conversations with pastors (over 20 in the past year) who have burned out because they have been caught up in the maintenance (stewardship if you will) of the local church they pastor. I sometimes get yelled at because I refuse to do something for the church that is not my place.
Another concern I have with your third point is that it puts more pressure on the pastor to know everything that the church has done, is doing, and can do and bases all future decisions squarely on the pastor's biased, subjective shoulders. Of course, educated pastors can manage this fairly well. The problem is that most pastors are not educated. Especially when it comes to financial issues.
Eric, I do not mean or imply you in any of my above comments, but Callahan's point is unfortunately right on in the Church of the Nazarene. Many of the pastors are at best only prepared to preach. But they lose that preparedness as they move forward into their congregations and various issues and problems come up. I have seen enough pastors be transformed into business men that it makes me sick to my stomach. No wonder so many pastors retire as soon as possible and no wonder there is so much burnout.
Sorry for the tangent. I have been apart of too many churches in some form or fashion that believe if you build it, they will come. If you have a revival, people will get saved. The problem is this is simply not true. I do believe if we live it, they will come. But again, most of us understand living it by being good attenders of church. Therefore the vicious cycle.
I do not think you are being overly sensitive to Callahan's comparison between a congregational, community, missional pastor vs. a professional, churched, cultured pastor. But all of those words have so much baggage attached to them and Callahan is not a young man anymore. If each word is supposed to be the antithesis to the original, I too am stumped. Because I do not see how professional is opposite congregational, etc.
From the talks I have had with Ken, I would say that he understands maybe better than anyone that how we do church has to change to reach the world we currently live in. I think most of the people he is writing to are pastors in their late 40's/early 50's to near retirement age. I noticed that the book is not called, "A New Pastor's guide" or "A Beginners guide" but "A New Beginning for Pastors and Congregations."
I too believe we need a congregational, communal, missional, cultured pastor. Depending on what is meant by churched I may agree/disagree. Professional.... that's still a bad word in my ministry vocabulary. One, I do not equate professional with educated. Two, there are some areas where education hurts you more than helps you.
All in all, I'm glad you are reading and questioning, and sharpening yourself. I think Ken would be very happy with what you do as a pastor, Eric. I think the one or two questions he might ask you are: "What percentage of your time do you spend inside vs. outside of the church?" with visitation of shut-ins/sick being counted as inside. Also, "How much of your inside time has transformed others to being outside people?"
God bless you and yours, Eric.
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