I hugged a little old lady last week. It was the first time she was in worship in […]
Pastor
They expect a certain image, a certain look or feel with my presence. They want me to look […]
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, […]
For years the call of the pastor has had an element that always plays out behind the scenes, something most people assume a pastor does but never really know what it is about. It is wrapped-up in one of the vows he makes on ordination, the one where he promises to, “Minister faithfully to the sick and dying and demonstrate to the Church a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel.”
A little framed picture hangs to the right of the door exiting my study which leads into the sanctuary of the church. Most people leaving through that door probably never even notice it, but I do. Though it is small, behind the glass is a simple and eloquent prayer.
I am always interested in films that involve pastors, whether the pastors are good or bad. Because this is something I know from the inside out, it is not hard to tell whether or not the filmmaker actually knows what he or she is doing in writing or casting the character. Phillip Youmans knows what he is doing in Burning Cane (2019; streaming on Netflix).
Every now and then the duties of the pastoral vocation overwhelm me. Sometimes I find being a pastor is painful and leaves me restless and unsatisfied. It usually is not the preaching and teaching which delivers the struggle. It is also not necessarily the handing over of the of the gifts, the administration of the Sacraments, that are a problem. No, the issue is usually rooted in what the older theologians discussed under the title of Seelsorge, an old German word meaning the, “care of souls.”
By Paul Koch – “Will you instruct both young and old in the chief articles of Christian doctrine, […]
By Joel A. Hess – Since seminary, I have been told by seasoned pastors and “expert” first timers […]
By Paul Koch – Yesterday I heard over the radio that the World Heath Organization has decided to […]