Everyone Feels the Weather

One of the specific tasks of the pastor is to talk to many people. Whether it is greeting people before and after the service, or when we are on a visitation. These conversations are very important because it lets the congregant know that they are cared for and are important. The fact that someone listens to them is enough.

However, I found while serving at Steinmann Mennonite Church is that I didn't always have much in common with a lot of the people I had to talk to. Many of them are middle-aged and up, while I am still in my early twenties. I don't have the depth of experience and knowledge that they do. SMC is a rural church, so most people there are either farmers or from small surrounding towns, while I'm  a city slicker. Without a common base of understanding, how can I fulfil my role as pastor, and have a good relationship with them? How can I maintain a decent conversation?

The Trick is to step back and find something that is universal to all human experience.

Everyone feels the weather.

Everyone has experienced, to some varying degree, hot and cold; dry and wet. whether you are 21 or 101 we all have a common knowledge of weather. Because I know how 30 degrees C feels to me, I can empathize with the elderly man in the nursing home, who can't go outside because the heat would probably kill him.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion about the weather. You can't be wrong because it's about what you experience! Even if they've never felt the full blast of a Winnipeg winter, they are allowed to not like a Toronto snowfall.

Because of this universal human experience of weather, I know have a basis to get to know these people, and I can start to build relationships with them. One where we can share new common experiences.

The Role of the Pastor

When people ask me what I want to do with my life, I often tell them that I feel led to being a pastor. However, when I tell them this, I often feel like I am lying, even though technically I am not.

I love God, and I love the church, and I feel that God is leading me towards fulltime Christian ministry within the church. Maybe even in a congregation's lead role someday.

This might sound like being a pastor, but in my mind there is a difference.

My view of Pastoring, and the church, is that it is often of a top down, hierarchical approach, The Pastor is in charge, leading a congregation like a shephard leading a bunch of sheep. Or more of a chaplain role, ministering to the emotional and spiritual needs of the congregation they are working in, maybe doing some outreach (or sheep stealing) in order to maintain the numbers of the congregation, but not really.

I don't think that's an unfair representation. For many centuries, the "western" world was part of Christendom, everyone was assumed to be a Christian, so there wasn't much point in ministry, unless it was mission work to people who had't been reached yet. This concept started when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, Augustine put it into theological terms, and it remained that way for a thousand years, surviving even the crash of the Roman Empire.

In the 1500s  this began to change, with the beginning of the Reformation, you could no longer assume that everyone was the same denomination, let alone the same religion of you. However, Christianity in some form remained the norm. Even 50 years ago everyone went to church every week. While this is no longer the case, it's still within my memory when the local mall was closed on Sundays, and today's reduced Sunday shopping hours are a holdover of the belief that people should be at church and not shopping on a Sunday.

Within the concept of Christendom, where everyone was a member of the/a church, it made sense that a Pastor's role was one of caring just for their congregation. However we are now recognizing the fact that not everyone is a Christian, that the world is a much more broken place than it once was. The role of the church, and therefore the role of the pastor is different.

My program at school is "Biblical and Theological Studies" As I read the biblical narrative, and the various philosophizing about who God is I get excited. I see a God who loves us, who's vision for the world is far greater than any of us can possibly imagine, and who invites us to join in working towards that vision.

The Church is the body of people who are working towards this future. We work towards right relationship with ourselves, our neighbours, and our God. I believe that this is the responsibility of every Christian.

Since in this context everyone is in ministry, the role of the Pastor then becomes one of encouraging the church to minister to the best of it's abilities. Since each member has different strengths and abilities, the Pastor encourages the congregation to plug in to what they are passionate about that maximizes congregation's witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Pastor's role is therefore to enable others to minister. both via the traditional tasks of a pastor: providing pastoral care (ensuring the emotional and spiritual well-being of the congregation), theological insight, or leading a committee as necessary, but also in less hierarchical ways. Allowing others to take the lead, and being a support.

Churches are starting to recognize this. Today I noticed that the bulletin of my church, immediately above where pastor's have our contact information, it says "Ministers: Every Member of the Congregation". If this is the vision of the church, then maybe yes, I am called to be a pastor.


[Note: On July 11, 2013 I finally got my hands on a copy of A Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership and I was pleasantly surprised to see that in it's theology section, it too had the same critiques of the Christendom, arguing that to some extent Mennonites have always seen the congregation as the primary ministers. I don't think we've even mostly succeeded at maintaining the viewpoint. but it's nice to know that I am in a denomination with the same thoughts]