PASTROING, A PAIN IN THE NECK
Louis D. Templeman
April 1, 1991
Earlier this morning, while walking peacefully in the near-dawn with my wife, I concluded, with more hope than certainty, that today would be my last chiropractor visit. My neck was pivoting painlessly, effortlessly-right, left, right, left. This after recurrent, stress-related neck and shoulder problems. Frankly, before I became a pastor, if someone had said, "Pastoring gives me a pain in the neck!" I would have assumed he had missed his calling. But no more. As a pastor, I've consistently struggled with the Lord's words "Why take ye thought . . ." I find myself taking considerable thought about the difficulties of ministry. And my neck pays the price. As the street lights flicked off with the brightening sky, my thoughts turned to a family that, a few months ago, had been enthusiastic about our church. When I met with the husband and wife to discuss youth ministry, they were brimming with motivation. They led the "bus ministry" for a month (our children's church meets in the parking lot in an old renovated bus). The last time I saw the husband, he was smiling and remarking how great he felt about ministering to kids. The wife was testifying that she had been healed of a food allergy and arthritis in our services. But suddenly, they stopped attending. Though we have talked on the phones they have inexplicably lost all interest in our church. My neck tightened just a bit. Our church rents a store front from the local cable-TV company. The manager, our landlord, dropped by last week. It seems he is expanding his operation. "Can you be out by the first of the year?" he asked. "Mmm," I muttered, "That gives us four months." As my wife and I finished our quiet morning walk, I was glad I still had the chiropractic appointment. According ...
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