Ok folks, this is the question burning in my soul.
If you believe in God and God’s call, and also see the church as diminishing, then, to me, this is the ultimate question.
If we can figure out why God is calling pastors, we can figure out what God is calling pastors to…(hint: Its probably a form of ministry that is not church-centric)
If we can figure out what God is calling pastors too then we can figure out how Christianity is being re-formed. God is calling people towards the kingdom, towards the future, towards tomorrow. If we can figure out what people are called to, we will have a sense of where God is leading us.
If we can figure out who God is calling to be pastors, then we can figure out how to equip them, and create education opportunities to match. The methods of teaching that fit these people, and the kind of skills they need are a good guide as to what kind of training tis going to be needed for the future, not just to the ordained, but to the general lay population as well, because the needs probably mirror each other pretty well.
I want this to be seriously considered, I want to do a doctoral thesis on it, I want churches everywhere to think and pray about those who are being called to ministry.
I for one DO believe God is still calling pastors, so the question is, how is God’s call shaping us now, this second, this moment.
Ready! Go!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Author: katyandtheword
Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ.
She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible.
"Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal.
Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times.
View all posts by katyandtheword
katyandtheword 