I've been reflecting much these days upon the life and work of Moses, especially his reluctance at being drawn back into public life as a leader of God's people. Here's what the Scriptures tell us:
Moses fled Egypt after he had grown up, because he had killed an Egyptian in defense of one of the Israelites. Afraid of retaliation by the Egyptians, he ended up living with the Midianites. These nomadic people lived in the wilderness areas to the east of Egypt. They seem not to have had any boundaries. There Moses spent many years in apparent peace as a shepherd (Exodus 1-2). I can only assume that he thought he would live and die in that pursuit, but it was not to be. At about the age of eighty years, he was called out of his nomadic life and into the very public work of leading the children of Israel out of slavery and on to the land long ago promised to Abraham and his descendants.
The work of leading Israel lasted for the next forty years. Moses finally died at the age of 120, though, as Exodus says, "his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone." That suggests that Moses was 80 when he assumed the momentous task of leader. And that fact leads back to why I have been reflecting much upon Moses' life.
This past year I marked 75 years on my journey to what the Bible calls the land of rest, symbolized by the weekly day of rest, the Sabbath, and the promised land. Some eight years ago I stepped aside from full time pastoral ministry to make room for a younger man. At that time I felt it was God's will and plan. Now, with some caution, I have begun to serve a growing congregation of God's people as counselor and advisor, much like Jethro was to Moses. Some of the leaders of this congregation are asking for my greater involvement, perhaps as one of their pastor-shepherds, until they are led to call another man who will serve them in a full time capacity.
I find myself pulled in two directions by that discussion. On the one hand, I enjoy the freedom of the life Sylvia and I have led these past eight years. I've been my own boss, so to speak, making decisions about how to spend my days without the burden of caring for a flock of God's people. And yet, I have always loved the work of the pastoral ministry. To many I've indicated that I'm among the richest men on earth, primarily because of the hundreds of rich and rewarding relationships I've been privileged to develop.
So what to do? As always, I, like you, must go where the Lord leads. He will provide for the journey. He made that promise to those of his disciples sent out ahead of Him. The same applies to us, regardless of the work to which we are called. So I await His leading, as must we all.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Twelve Keys To Effective Churches
Our young Lutheran congregation is meeting this coming Saturday to make plans for the next three years. The members are excited about their future, challenged by the obstacles, but determined to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit at work through God's Word.
When we get together, I want to introduce them to the work of Dr. Ken Callahan, not because I want us to embrace all of his theology, but because I believe that he has something to teach everyone of us called to bring the Gospel to our communities and the wide world beyond.
I came to know the work of Dr. Callahan about a decade ago. I'm happy to see that he is still leading his Twelve Keys Seminar. He is an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, and has taught for many years at Emory University. His fields of research and teaching include theology of mission, leadership and administration, and giving and finance.
He is the founder of the Center for Continuing Education at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Dr. Callahan is the founder of the National Certification Program in Church Finance and Administration, providing training and certification for pastors and church administrators. He has received many awards and recognitions, including being elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Church Business Administrators.
His pastoral experience spans rural and urban congregations in Ohio, Texas, and Georgia, and includes small, strong congregations, healthy middle congregations, and large, regional congregations.
What interests me most about Dr. Callahan are his Twelve Keys to an Effective Church. They include the following:
1. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) Goals
2. Visitation in our community by both the pastor and the laity
3. Dynamic worship
4. Significant relational groups
5. Strong leadership
6. Solid, participatory decision making and streamlined structure
7. Competent programs and activities
8. Open and accessible
9. Highly visible
10. Adequate parking, land
11. Adequate space and facilities
12. Solid financial resources
Our young congregation is going to take a very careful look at these characteristics of effective churches. We will ask ourselves how these characteristics apply to us. We recognize, of course, that Christ grows His church through the proclamation of His Word and the administration of the sacraments. Each of these characteristics must and will be placed against that background as we move forward to bring the Gospel to our community.
When we get together, I want to introduce them to the work of Dr. Ken Callahan, not because I want us to embrace all of his theology, but because I believe that he has something to teach everyone of us called to bring the Gospel to our communities and the wide world beyond.
I came to know the work of Dr. Callahan about a decade ago. I'm happy to see that he is still leading his Twelve Keys Seminar. He is an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, and has taught for many years at Emory University. His fields of research and teaching include theology of mission, leadership and administration, and giving and finance.
He is the founder of the Center for Continuing Education at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Dr. Callahan is the founder of the National Certification Program in Church Finance and Administration, providing training and certification for pastors and church administrators. He has received many awards and recognitions, including being elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Church Business Administrators.
His pastoral experience spans rural and urban congregations in Ohio, Texas, and Georgia, and includes small, strong congregations, healthy middle congregations, and large, regional congregations.
What interests me most about Dr. Callahan are his Twelve Keys to an Effective Church. They include the following:
1. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) Goals
2. Visitation in our community by both the pastor and the laity
3. Dynamic worship
4. Significant relational groups
5. Strong leadership
6. Solid, participatory decision making and streamlined structure
7. Competent programs and activities
8. Open and accessible
9. Highly visible
10. Adequate parking, land
11. Adequate space and facilities
12. Solid financial resources
Our young congregation is going to take a very careful look at these characteristics of effective churches. We will ask ourselves how these characteristics apply to us. We recognize, of course, that Christ grows His church through the proclamation of His Word and the administration of the sacraments. Each of these characteristics must and will be placed against that background as we move forward to bring the Gospel to our community.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Call to the Public Ministry
As I said in my last Blog, I'm focusing upon what happens in a newly formed congregation. The local church that we've joined in Montgomery, TX. is called Living Savior. She has many challenges and opportunities before her now that she is organized. Central to her future is the installation of a permanent pastor. In that matter both the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions have much to say. Here's a brief summary.
In 1537 Philip Melanchthon wrote a very important and concise Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope that became a part of the Smalcald Articles and ultimately of the Lutheran Confessions of 1580. Consequently, they have remained an official statement of the beliefs of the Lutheran community of Christians. In paragraph 67 of the Treatise we read the following:
“For wherever the Church is, there is the authority [command] to administer the Gospel. Therefore it is necessary for the Church to retain the authority to call, elect, and ordain ministers. And this authority is a gift which in reality is given to the Church, which no human power can wrest from the Church, as Paul also testifies to the Ephesians, 4, 8, when he says: He ascended, He gave gifts to men. And he enumerates among the gifts specially belonging to the Church pastors and teachers, and adds that such are given for the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Hence, wherever there is a true church, the right to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists. Just as in a case of necessity even a layman absolves, and becomes the minister and pastor of another; as Augustine narrates the story of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the catechumen, who after Baptism then absolved the baptizer.
“Here belong the statements of Christ which testify that the keys have been given to the Church, and not merely to certain persons, Matt. 18, 20: Where two or three are gathered together in My name, etc.
“Lastly, the statement of Peter also confirms this, 1 Peter 2: 9, “Ye are a royal priesthood.” These words pertain to the true Church, which certainly has the right to elect and ordain ministers since it alone has the priesthood.”
In his Christian Dogmatics Dr. J.T. Mueller wrote,
"The Christian ministry is called “public,” not in view of the place where its functions are performed, but rather in view of the fact that its functions are executed in the name and by the authority of the congregation, so that even such functions of the ministerial office as are done in private (private Communion; private admonition; private absolution) belong to the public ministry (compare: public service; public servants, etc.). So then, the divine rule obtains: Wherever true believers are found at one place, they must organize and maintain local churches. And wherever there are local churches, they must also by God’s will call official pastors or ministers, who in the name of the congregation preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, or who in the name of the congregation execute the Office of the Keys.”
The divinity of the mediate call (is established) from the following Biblical passages:
1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
1 Cor. 12:28 - 27-31 - You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
apostles, prophets, teachers. miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, uni-dimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.
Acts 14:23 - Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying— their prayers intensified by fasting—they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives.
1 Timothy 5:21-22 - God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don't appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don't want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself.
(All passages above quoted from the contemporary paraphrase: The Message)
See also 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 5:2-3 and many other verses.
Currently Living Savior is being served by a pastor on a part time basis. The challenge she faces in the next years is to grow large enough to provide support for a full time shepherd.
In 1537 Philip Melanchthon wrote a very important and concise Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope that became a part of the Smalcald Articles and ultimately of the Lutheran Confessions of 1580. Consequently, they have remained an official statement of the beliefs of the Lutheran community of Christians. In paragraph 67 of the Treatise we read the following:
“For wherever the Church is, there is the authority [command] to administer the Gospel. Therefore it is necessary for the Church to retain the authority to call, elect, and ordain ministers. And this authority is a gift which in reality is given to the Church, which no human power can wrest from the Church, as Paul also testifies to the Ephesians, 4, 8, when he says: He ascended, He gave gifts to men. And he enumerates among the gifts specially belonging to the Church pastors and teachers, and adds that such are given for the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Hence, wherever there is a true church, the right to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists. Just as in a case of necessity even a layman absolves, and becomes the minister and pastor of another; as Augustine narrates the story of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the catechumen, who after Baptism then absolved the baptizer.
“Here belong the statements of Christ which testify that the keys have been given to the Church, and not merely to certain persons, Matt. 18, 20: Where two or three are gathered together in My name, etc.
“Lastly, the statement of Peter also confirms this, 1 Peter 2: 9, “Ye are a royal priesthood.” These words pertain to the true Church, which certainly has the right to elect and ordain ministers since it alone has the priesthood.”
In his Christian Dogmatics Dr. J.T. Mueller wrote,
"The Christian ministry is called “public,” not in view of the place where its functions are performed, but rather in view of the fact that its functions are executed in the name and by the authority of the congregation, so that even such functions of the ministerial office as are done in private (private Communion; private admonition; private absolution) belong to the public ministry (compare: public service; public servants, etc.). So then, the divine rule obtains: Wherever true believers are found at one place, they must organize and maintain local churches. And wherever there are local churches, they must also by God’s will call official pastors or ministers, who in the name of the congregation preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, or who in the name of the congregation execute the Office of the Keys.”
The divinity of the mediate call (is established) from the following Biblical passages:
1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
1 Cor. 12:28 - 27-31 - You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
apostles, prophets, teachers. miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, uni-dimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.
Acts 14:23 - Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying— their prayers intensified by fasting—they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives.
1 Timothy 5:21-22 - God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don't appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don't want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself.
(All passages above quoted from the contemporary paraphrase: The Message)
See also 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 5:2-3 and many other verses.
Currently Living Savior is being served by a pastor on a part time basis. The challenge she faces in the next years is to grow large enough to provide support for a full time shepherd.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Reporting Again For Active Duty
Today brings us an entire week into a new year. A week before the new year began my grandson and I were discussing the calendar. I pointed out to him that we operate with the Gregorian calendar rather than the Julian. He had never heard of this. So I told him to Google it. He immediately grabbed his iPhone, went to the Net and came up with some kind of answer. When I pushed him, he indicated he was not that interested in the topic and we left it for another.
We Christians have also entered the wonderful season of Epiphany, that time when we remember the coming of the Magi from the east to worship the infant Jesus. Thus, at the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and the New Testament, we are reminded that the Good News of Jesus is for all men. It is not reserved merely for the Israelites, as important as they are in the history of God's grace.
So I personally find it significant that tomorrow I will be meeting with a group of leaders from a new congregation of Lutheran Christians in Montgomery, Texas. We will be discussing my role as a temporary or interim pastor in assisting them with the task of spreading the Gospel in that part of this vast world.
Yes, you heard me right. I'm temporarily moving back into more active pastoral ministry after being retired, if you will, for the past eight years. Like the world around us, we pastors (presbyters, priests, clergy) have adopted the term retirement. It is not a Biblical term. There's no Biblical record of prophets, priests, apostles or pastors ever retiring. What does the term mean then? Here are a few current definitions:
- retire - go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position; "He retired at age 68"
- retire - withdraw: pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew"; "The limo pulled away from the curb"
- retire - withdraw from circulation or from the market, as of bills, shares, and bonds
- retire - adjourn: break from a meeting or gathering; "We adjourned for lunch"; "The men retired to the library"
- make (someone) retire; "The director was retired after the scandal"
- retire - dispose of (something no longer useful or needed); "She finally retired that old coat"
- retire - lose interest; "he retired from life when his wife died"
- retire - put out: cause to be out on a fielding play
- retire - cause to get out; "The pitcher retired three batters"; "the runner was put out at third base"
- retire - go to bed: prepare for sleep; "I usually turn in at midnight"; "He goes to bed at the crack of dawn"
So check in from time to time. In this new year I plan to chronicle what that means for me, for Sylvia and our family, and for the people I'll be serving. Perhaps we can all learn some things together.
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