A Modest Church Proposal
Here's an excerpt from a response I gave to the "20 Questions" post of a few days ago. The question revolved around what my opinion was on how the church needed to change for it to be productive.
First, I am just tired of the way the Pastors role is viewed within the church. We as church attenders have abdicated our spiritual roles and rights to the pastors in our congregations. We go to church to be fed, to be motivated, to be inspired, to feel good, to be enthused, to learn....all of which we expect will come from the stage on any given Sunday.
We put so many roles on the Pastor... he becomes a quasi CEO/Office Manager/HR Director/Fund Developer/Recruiter. That's our fault because our expectations our high.
But it is also the Pastors fault. Pastors accept these jobs and then try to be all things to all people so they might not offend any...and in the process win none. Many are neutered, weak and ineffective yet with an extreme amount of "virtual power". Pastors need to take back their role as shepherds. Congregations need to fire their pastors as CEO's and ask them just to love them as people not numbers....(cont'd here).
READ THE COMPLETE RESPONSE HERE.
FYI: This link goes over to the blog that will become the central location for all of Steve's writings. This "homepage" of the SCP site will seek to communicate the general happenings on SCP, other items of interests, updates for Josh's blog, the podcast and also Steve's blog.
First, I am just tired of the way the Pastors role is viewed within the church. We as church attenders have abdicated our spiritual roles and rights to the pastors in our congregations. We go to church to be fed, to be motivated, to be inspired, to feel good, to be enthused, to learn....all of which we expect will come from the stage on any given Sunday.
We put so many roles on the Pastor... he becomes a quasi CEO/Office Manager/HR Director/Fund Developer/Recruiter. That's our fault because our expectations our high.
But it is also the Pastors fault. Pastors accept these jobs and then try to be all things to all people so they might not offend any...and in the process win none. Many are neutered, weak and ineffective yet with an extreme amount of "virtual power". Pastors need to take back their role as shepherds. Congregations need to fire their pastors as CEO's and ask them just to love them as people not numbers....(cont'd here).
READ THE COMPLETE RESPONSE HERE.
FYI: This link goes over to the blog that will become the central location for all of Steve's writings. This "homepage" of the SCP site will seek to communicate the general happenings on SCP, other items of interests, updates for Josh's blog, the podcast and also Steve's blog.
posted by Steve at
10/18/2005
4 Comments:
The role of pastor as preacher is also an interesting one. The church did not sit in front of a pastor for a 20 minute sermon back in those days. Everyone contributed to the gathering. Of course they didn't have a church building on every street corner then either.
It's also interesting how the pastor has become a "calling" and a vocation instead of (as scripture plainly states) one of several equal giftings imparted to believers.
We have a church building that is worth $6M that we have 150 people in.
I'm not sure what that means, but I'm wondering if the congregation is really worth $6 million.
If we reach only one person for X, then it will be worth every penny.
Wow, I heard that line of reasoning at my old church all the time to justify why we were spending loads of money on "outreach events" and taking out loans to cover our operating costs.
Thanks for letting us know you were being sarcastic, Dorsey. Very refreshing to see someone else doesn't like that line of reasoning, either.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home