Perceptions from a Pewboy

Today, January 2nd, I begin a new season of ministry. I say that because, as of today, I am “officially” (whatever that means) the District Superintendent of the Washington District of the United Methodist Church. If you are not a United Methodist, and perhaps even if you are, those words may mean very little to you. By way of translation, suffice it to say that, for the first time in twenty years, I am not serving as the pastor of a local church. Instead, I am now a pastor to clergy and their families, a vision-caster and vision-helper for a number of congregations, and a trouble-shooter for a whole bunch of United Methodist believers.

I don’t even pretend to understand what all of that means, practically speaking. The learning curve is pretty steep for me in that regard.

Over the last few months, I have been prayerfully contemplating what expectations I bring to this new season of ministry. More specifically, I have been praying and journaling over these two questions: What do I expect of myself as a District Superintendent? And what do I expect of the clergy I superintend? Those two questions have led me to the following list that I will soon place before the clergy of the Washington District. I place it before you now because I am genuinely interested in your feedback. The list is kind of a work in progress. Let me know how it falls upon your mind and heart, no matter whether you are clergy or laity.

A Superintendent’s Expectations of Himself and the Clergy of the Washington District

1. An Ever-Deepening Love for God and People
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the greatest commandment in this fashion: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind…and a second [commandment] is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37).

The heart (“kardia”) is the physical essence of our being, the organ that is closest to the center of our physical sustenance. To love God with all our heart, therefore, is to practice faithful stewardship over our physical being, caring for our hearts and bodies in a way that honors the One who made them. Clergy are expected to grow in their commitment to physical health, including the maintenance of a healthy diet and a consistent program of physical exercise, thereby becoming more abundantly equipped to love God with all their heart.

The soul (“psuche,” from which we derive the word “psychology”) is the place of our deepest thoughts, feelings, passions, and emotions. To love God with all our soul, therefore, is to practice faithful stewardship over our inner being, caring for our emotional health and our spiritual growth in a way that honors the One who desires nothing less than an intimate communion with souls. Clergy are expected to grow in their commitment to the spiritual disciplines (such as prayer, study of Scripture and meditation upon its revelations, confession and repentance, worship, solitude, community, and regular participation in the Lord’s Supper), thereby becoming more holistically enabled to love God with all their soul.

The mind (“dianoia”) is a reference to the realm of our cognitive reflection and our rational analysis. To love God with all our mind, therefore, is to practice faithful stewardship over our intellectual development, caring for the formation of our minds in a way that honors the One who desires to be known, not only through feelings, but also through thoughts. Clergy are expected to grow in their commitment to the disciplines of lifelong learning, continuing education, and theological reading and reflection, thereby becoming more comprehensively energized to love God with all of their mind.

2. A Commitment to Personal Integrity
The word “integrity” is a derivative of a Latin word meaning “intact” or “whole.” People of integrity are people who commit themselves to authenticity, wholeness, and ethical intactness in their relationships, their administration, their self-care, their communication, and their personal conduct. Clergy are expected to commit themselves to living and ministering with the kind of integrity that bears witness to a holistic walk with Christ.

3. Participation in Incubator Groups
Communal accountability and collegial nurture are essential portions of our discipleship to Jesus Christ, who once promised to be uniquely present wherever “two or three” were gathered in his name. The incubator ministry is our conference’s most recent effort to create a spirit of authentic and intentional community among the clergy and laity of Western Pennsylvania. Clergy are expected to commit themselves to a positive participation in an incubator group and its ministry.

4. Tithing and Growth Beyond Tithing
In the ministry of the local church, clergy are to set the tone for generosity and boldness in giving. It is expected that clergy will teach both growth toward tithing and growth beyond tithing in the churches that they serve. Moreover, it is expected that clergy will model tithing and radical generosity in their personal walk with Christ.

5. A Commitment to the Payment of Mission Share
The local church’s mission share is part of the very lifeblood of United Methodism’s connectional ministry. When clergy and congregations commit themselves to paying their mission share in full, they enable the realization of every portion of the larger church’s planned ministry. Likewise, when congregations treat their mission share as optional, they hinder the church’s capacity to become all that God is calling it to be. Clergy are expected to be diligent, creative, and bold in helping their congregations both to understand and to meet their mission share.

6. Respect for Colleagues in Ministry
An eagerness to tear one another down is antithetical to the spirit of love in which we are called to live. Clergy are expected to encourage and support one another, to pray for one another, and to resist the temptation to speak negatively about colleagues when those colleagues are not present to defend themselves.

7. Hard Work
Clergy are expected to be disciplined about devoting substantial time and energy to the tasks of preaching, teaching, discipling, counseling, overseeing the church’s administration, visioning, and offering pastoral care, in order that every local church and every place of ministry might receive faithful, effective, and fruitful clergy leadership.

8. The Honoring of Sabbath
In the often-frenetic pace of life and ministry, clergy are expected to be Sabbath people, experiencing regular time away from work for solitude, communion with God, time with family, and rest.

9. Participation in District and Conference Ministry
United Methodist clergy are joined by a connectional covenant. District and conference ministry is a portion of that covenant. Whenever possible, therefore, clergy are expected to support district and conference programming and ministry through their participation.

10. A Stubborn and Prayerful Resistance to Cynicism and Chronic Negativity
Nothing corrupts the joy and vibrancy of the church’s ministry faster than the proliferation of cynicism and unrestrained negativity. All too often, even the church’s leadership allows itself to be drawn into this counterproductive spirit, choosing the drone of disparagement instead of the song of hope. Clergy are expected to resist such cynicism and negativity, thereby becoming instruments of prophetic joy and contagious encouragement.

11. A Commitment to Scriptural Holiness and Wesleyan Theology
Clergy are expected to grow daily in their embodiment of a biblical worldview and in their practice of a distinctively Wesleyan theology concerning God’s prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace.

It is an interesting question for pastors to ponder, isn’t it?

In my vocational journey, what lessons have I learned?

That question, of course, leads to other important inquiries: What do I wish that someone had told me early on? What counsel would I want to be certain to offer to those men and women who are just beginning their ministry? What insights have I gleaned from the living out of my calling?

I was privileged to serve as the overseer of our annual conference’s probationer program from 2002 until 2006. (The blogroll’s very own Jeff Vanderhoff now occupies that position. I am grateful for Jeff’s faithful ministry to our probationers.) During one of the probationer retreats that I facilitated years ago, a twentysomething probationer caught me off guard with this request:

“Eric, you’ve been a pastor for over ten years, right?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’d like to know what you have learned in ministry over the years. I’m new at this stuff. I want to hear what some seasoned pastors have to say about the most important lessons that they’ve learned about local church ministry.”

That conversation inspired me to do some significant journaling for a couple of weeks. My journaling resulted in the list of insights that I am about to share with you.

Some of these insights may resonate with particular depth for you. If so, I celebrate that. On the other hand, you may discover that some of these insights miss the mark or fall short of being accurately descriptive of what you have experienced. That’s OK too. Disagreement or clarification, after all, often leads to a more substantive discernment.

Please understand that I offer these insights, not with the arrogance of one who fancies himself a “seasoned veteran” or an ecclesiastical guru, but with the humility of one who considers himself privileged to be sharing with you—and learning from you—in the journey of ministry. I would love to hear about some of your own ministry insights, if you would be willing to share them.

Insight #1:
Stewardship of the spiritual disciplines (such as prayer, meditation on Scripture, solitude, community, fasting, worship, sacramental celebration, and journaling) is the responsibility that is most crucial to the vitality of one’s ministry and the one that is most frequently neglected.

Insight #2:
In one’s first five years of ministry, the patterns and rhythms that one establishes in the practice of the spiritual disciplines will set the spiritual tone of one’s entire ministry. Change is always possible, of course. But the likelihood of altering an insufficient practice of the disciplines decreases significantly with each season spent in this condition of insufficient spiritual practice. To put it another way, if one’s life of prayer is currently on the back burner as a result of an unmanaged schedule, the front burner often becomes increasingly more difficult to access as time goes on.

Insight #3:
The most important “art” in the life of ministry is the art of forgiveness—both the giving of it and the receiving of it. (Note: Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. Rather, forgiveness means remembering in a healthier way, without hatred, without bitterness, and without the desire to retaliate.) Pastors must take seriously the responsibility of forgiving their people (some of whom will be penitent, some of whom will not). Just as important, of course, is the pastor’s responsibility of requesting forgiveness from those whom he or she has wronged and receiving that forgiveness when it is offered.

Insight #4:
If one is en route to becoming a deacon, it is essential for him/her to recognize (with patience) that United Methodism is still endeavoring to make theological sense of this calling. I see this as a hopeful challenge rather than a punitive resistance.

Insight #5:
For the sake of the health and vitality of one’s ministry, it is imperative that pastors resist stubbornly what I consider to be the fastest-acting spiritual poison in the church: chronic and unbridled negativity. What does chronic negativity sound like among clergy? It sounds something like this:

“Why didn’t I get that appointment/salary?”

Or this: “He/she doesn’t deserve that appointment as much as I do.”

Or this: “It’s all the district superintendent’s fault…or the bishop’s fault…or the trustees’ fault…or Protestant liberalism’s fault…or evangelicalism’s fault…or Hollywood’s fault.”

Or this: “Why do I have to participate in the Probationer Program? It’s nothing but a series of hoops through which the Board of Ordained Ministry expects me to jump.”

The journey from negativity to cynicism is notoriously short, and cynicism corrupts the spirit of relentless joy by which we are called to live as followers of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, chronic negativity can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, if one automatically assumes that something will be a negative experience, then, chances are, it will be, if only because of the limits created by one’s negative presuppositions.

Insight #6:
With all due respect to the urgency of heartfelt pastoral care, preaching and worship oversight are still the most widely-observed tasks on a pastor’s job description and therefore deserve far more time and preparation than many pastors are willing to devote to them.

Insight #7:
Nearly every preacher with whom I have spoken cites preaching as one of his or her primary strengths in ministry. My hunch is that only about 60-65% of the preachers who hold this opinion about themselves are correct. I say this, not to be unkind, and certainly not to champion my own preaching abilities. Rather, I say it to highlight an area of ministry in which self-awareness is often somewhat distorted.

Insight #8:
It is enormously important for a preacher and teacher to devote a substantial amount of time to reading and hearing the preaching and teaching of others. I suggest this, not so that one will be led to duplicate another’s style, but so that preachers and teachers will immerse themselves in the educational and transformational art of other artists. Personally, I subscribe to THE LIVING PULPIT and HOMILETICS, both of which I find to be helpful resources in the discipline of preaching. I also subscribe to the sermon tape ministry of both Willow Creek and Church of the Resurrection. This enables me to experience the preaching and teaching ministry of other respected communicators, many of whom approach communication very differently than I do.

Insight #9:
Whether a pastor wants to or not, he or she must be diligent in visitation to the hospitalized and the homebound. Preaching and teaching might be more widely-observed than visitation. But faithful visitation is what parishioners will remember most.

Insight #10:
A pastor’s ministry of pastoral care will deepen if he or she is intentional about devoting at least an hour or two at the beginning of every week to the task of writing personal notes or cards to various parishioners who may be particularly blessed by such a tangible act of ministry. Words of thanks, encouragement, affirmation, and hope are often easily and effectively communicated through this process.

Insight #11:
Good preachers are normally good writers. If a pastor is a good writer, then he or she would do well to utilize those writing skills often in the life of ministry. If, however, a pastor is not a good writer, then practice and growth in this area are essential. (If this is an area of struggle for the pastor, it is not a bad idea for the pastor to partner with a good writer—someone who might be willing to review all written work before it ever goes public.) One’s ability to write well is inseparably linked to one’s growth as a preacher.

Insight #12:
Pastors must engage in good and prayerful preparation before their meetings with the Committee on Lay Leadership (formerly the Committee on Nominations and Personnel). The administrative health of a church, not to mention the pastor’s sanity, depends upon the good work of this committee. This matter deserves careful thought all year long, so that a pastor’s vision for the administrative network of a church will always be well-developed.

Insight #13:
Lone-rangerism is one of the most pervasive stumbling blocks in the way of healthy ministry. Pastors must guard against it with a passion. In this regard, it is impossible to overstate the importance of a pastor’s participation in a covenant group that will hold the pastor gently and lovingly accountable for his or her discipleship and walk with Christ.

Insight #14:
Back to preaching: Most preachers are not gifted enough orators to preach from only an outline, since much of good preaching depends upon the nuances of good segues and artful linguistic transitions. Therefore, pastors would do well to create the sermon in its entirety, segues and all. Beyond this, the sermon becomes more effective when it is internalized to such an extent that the preacher is able to preach it conversationally and without enslavement to a manuscript.

Insight #15:
Pastors who make the time to attend a regular worship event in which they have no leadership responsibility whatsoever will ultimately find this to be a precious and wonderfully rejuvenating practice.

Insight #16:
The book of Proverbs proclaims that, without vision, people will perish. Therefore, churches are in desperate need of visionary pastors—pastors who are always about the business of dreaming and seeing beyond where the church is currently living. Pastors, then, would do well to keep a running journal of their visions. They would also do well to bring those visions before a team of “visioners” in the church for the purpose of clarification and development.

Insight #17:
Much like the early church, the church of 2007 is in a season of holy experimentation. Pastors must therefore help their congregations to develop a “let’s try it for Jesus” mentality when it comes to the development of new ministries. The failure of a particular ministry experiment never bothers me. A church that refuses to experiment, however, breaks my heart.

Insight #18:
The dangerous blending of patriotism and discipleship in the contemporary church can distort our prophetic sensibilities. The proximity of the American flag to our altars, for example, is often more than a matter of interior design. Churches need pastors who, while remaining patriotically sensitive and appreciative, can nevertheless help congregations to understand the church’s proclamation of a kingdom that transcends national identity.

Insight #19:
Church growth is as much about who leaves as it is about who comes.

Insight #20:
Western Pennsylvania has one of the most compelling cultural blends in all of United Methodism: the parochialism and fortitude of Appalachia on the one hand, and a midwestern proclivity to grassroots sensibilities on the other. This is our context for ministry, and it is a blessed one.

If I may be perfectly confessional for a moment, there are times when I find a strange, unspecific, and undirected anger occupying the depths of my soul. It is not an anger that prevents me from loving Jesus or devoting myself to the ethics of his kingdom. But it does occasionally impact both the way in which I approach the various tasks of ministry and the way in which I treat the people with whom I am ministering. When I am not as patient with people as I want to be; when I am slow with affirmation and quick with biting criticism; when I am more cynical than I am compassionate; when frustrations in ministry become my primary focus, I know that I have allowed this mysterious anger to organize a coup d’etat against my emotional network.

I have had a hard time identifying and naming this anger over the years. The other day, however, while rereading Henri Nouwen’s THE WAY OF THE HEART, I came across a passage that left me completely undone. Not only does this passage illuminate the anger that I have described, but it does so in a way that makes me to appreciate even more deeply the way in which such anger, if left undisciplined, can sabotage or even corrupt a human soul.

Here is the passage from Nouwen’s THE WAY OF THE HEART to which I am making reference:

Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in the contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming, and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face, the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Does it ring any bells with any of you?