Some Of My Best Friends Are Pastors, But...

What do you think it means that the fastest growing churches in the U.S. are led by pastors who haven't been to seminary? There are probably all kinds of ways to answer than question. Among them, I'm convinced that the way we train, roster, and reward our pastors in the mainline produces a kind of clericalism that kills the spirit, disempowers the laity, and makes it ok for me (as a layperson) to pay somebody else to do my job for me. Looking at the sagging morale of pastors in our churches and the number of seminary trained people who end up bailing on ordained ministry at some point, I don't think it's been such a good thing for them, either. Unfortunately, I see a trend in mainline churches toward more clericalism and more hierarchy, rather than less, the more "trouble" our denominations get into. (This is, I believe, why who gets to be on the clergy roster has become THE issue for mainline denominations over the past decade.) It's a natural effort to try to take control in what feels like an increasingly out of control situation. And it is exactly the wrong thing to be doing.

I'm wondering out loud about this over at the A.R.E. blog today:

On the mission field today, we need our pastors to get over the idea that their job is to "take care of" us. And we need to get over the idea that we need to be taken care of. God has called each one of us to serve our neighbors, care for each other, and share the good news with everybody.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

In what ways do you see clericalism at work, killing us...our pastors...and our churches??

Comments

[Justin G]

Amen! Wow, this is so well said, and I appreciate the other blog just as much- thanks for your insight once again!

[Bonnie]

Cutting to the chase, the long view of this discussion shows a world in which an entire segment of professionals, namely, seminary-educated-candidacy-committee-
approved-$50,000-a-year-plus-benefits-
card-carrying-stamped-endorsed-clergy will find themselves looking for a new source of financial income. This is fairly stressful. You and others have spoken of ministry as a process of working yourself out of a job. Most pastors want to keep their jobs, I'm guessing. Calling=vocation=job=income. Income is good. It helps you live and buy stuff you need.

KELLY'S RESPONSE: Working yourself out of a job does not mean working yourself out of employment. It means changing the job that we're doing. It is a whole lot harder - and takes way more time and a much higher competency level - to equip others to do a job (whatever that job is) than it is to do it yourself. I suspect that some pastors, anyway, are afraid of losing their "job" because they aren't qualified enough to do the job the church really needs them to be doing. But that is another matter, entirely.

[Bonnie]

"It is a whole lot harder - and takes way more time and a much higher competency level - to equip others to do a job (whatever that job is) than it is to do it yourself."

Amen, sister! This is still somewhat tricky to explain to a Personnel Committee, though...(The Council Chair screws up his face and says, "What are we paying her for, anyway!")

I've been re-reading Bill Easam's "Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers". I like the idea of the burger...make mine with crab pate and blue cheese, please.

The troublesome thought is that the cow needs to be slain. Then there's all that bellering and blood and skinning and de-boning and cutting and grinding...Not so much a win-win situation for old Bessie.

Is there no vegan metaphor here?