Pleasing God & Pleasing People
A Pasadena pastor talks about parallel loyalties -- and what he does when they collide.
Paul Cedar
July 1, 1984
When Paul Cedar was a boy growing up in the Presbyterian manse of Howard Lake, Minnesota, he never saw his father leave the yard without a coat and tie unless there was a work day at the church. The pastoral image was visible, distinct, decorous at all times.
The son entered his father's vocation during his senior year at Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, when he took his first pastorate. It was a small-town Methodist congregation of fifteen souls founded by George McGovern's father.
He has since ministered in many contexts: directing Youth for Christ in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; serving a small Evangelical Free church in the Chicago suburb of Naperville while finishing seminary (Northern Baptist); managing crusades for the Billy Graham Association; pioneering an Evangelical Free church in Yorba Linda, California; becoming executive pastor of the prestigious Hollywood Presbyterian Church . . . and since 1981, leading Pasadena's Lake Avenue Congregational Church as senior pastor.
He talked recently with LEADERSHIP Senior Editor Dean Merrill about the role and lifestyle in which he's been immersed since birth.
What is the difference between the pastoral role in Northville, South Dakota, where you started, and the high-octane atmosphere of Los Angeles?
Not as much as you might think. One of the great things about rural America is that people expect you to be authentic. If you're not, they recognize you from afar.
My role here is the same as it was there: to be authentic and loving, to care for people, and to be concerned for spiritual growth. I remember the excitement we all felt in Northville the first Sunday a couple of children came for Sunday school. Those people hadn't heard little voices in that building for years. ...
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