One thing I hate about being a minister

Don't get me wrong. I love being a minister, even the challenges.

There is one thing, though, that bugs me. People think that I have God's secret cell phone number. They think that someone, as a man of the cloth, my prayers ring louder in God's ears than anyone else's.

Not true. Not true at all. Everyone has equal access to God because of Jesus Christ. With that thought in mind, our church has banished the "pastoral prayer" time in worship. (I remember as a kid and teenager, the agonizingly long pastor's prayers that would seem to drone on for hours, as he prayed for the Millie's sore toe, and Jethro's finger, and so on in a monotone that would put the worst insomniac to sleep.) We have returned to the prayers of the people. Instead of me droning on about this and that, people can write in prayer journals. They can be as personal as one would like. It gives everyone equal access to God.

Also instead of a free-form closing prayer, we pray in unison a prayer. Some of these prayers come from The Book of Common Prayer, others from The Oxford Book of Prayer edited by George Appleton. Everyone prayers. Everyone processes the words of the prayer.

Prayer is for the people. It's not just for the minister.

Let's Quit Beating Our Heads Against The Same Old Wall

One thing that I've noticed in my few years in the ministry is the resistance to change, to try anything new. Everyone loves the glory days.

The problem is that most people couldn't care less about what happens in the church-world.

The thought line of most leadership runs this way: if we just keep doing what we've always done but try just a little harder we will see success. All the while fewer and fewer people care about what goes on. We try harder, but nothing.

Hey folks, let's try something new. Let's try listening to people and engaging in conversation. Let's quit trying to shout everyone down. Let's quit trying to prove that we are right. Let's quit being defensive. Let's quit waiting for the great hoards of the unwashed to clean up and come to us. Let's get off our butts and get involved with people. Let's get out the four walls of the church and engage our community where it's at. Let's spend time with people who don't go to church.

Jesus didn't hideout in the synagogues or the temple. He got involved with the lives of people. He talked to a woman by a well. He forgave prostitutes. He loved people who needed him. Let's show a little of that love and compassion.

Most people outside the church don't care about us, because they think we don't care about them. If they think we care, it's only to the extent that we can shake them down for money, or count them in our attendance figures.

Let's quit beating out heads against the same old wall.

My first blog post

I'm trying this for the first time. Like a lot of other stuff I try, I'll probably not post much. I'll hit a posting frenzy, then forget about for a while.

I've been on a spiritual journey for the past few years. I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene. I always thought that Christianity was a cookie-cutter thing. I am learning the richness of a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. It has ups and downs, much like any other relationship.

I am in the ministry. At the moment, I am the pastor of a Church of the Nazarene. I have also learned how worship and ministry is changing.

I hope to post more thoughts in the future.