From the Editor
July 1, 1996
I think Simon and Garfunkel described the feeling of some pastors today when
they sang, "When you're weary, feeling small." (Interestingly, the words
come from "Bridge over Troubled Waters," an apt metaphor for much of pastoral
ministry.)
The weariness I see among some clergy is not usually full-fledged burnout.
It's the slow buildup, like wax on a kitchen floor, of too many evening meetings,
too many conflicts, too few days off.
The "feeling small" comes out in conversations. Recently I was with two pastors
who serve vital congregations-one of 300, one of about 200 people. According
to the church-growth statisticians, these two ministers would be the envy
of 90 percent of America's pastors. But they don't feel that way.
One said, "Our church is only about 200." The other said, apologetically,
"We're just a small church." Something about their demeanor said, "I'm just
a pastor of just a small church."
I thought about the conversation later, and the more I did, the more it bothered
me.
Would we say, "I'm just an Olympian" or "I'm only a ceo" or "I'm nothing
but a new parent"?
Why, then, the apologies for our role or our congregations?
Have we come to believe the implications of conference brochures (ministers
are valuable only if their
churches are large)? Or the made-for-tv movies (ministers are scalawags or
wimps)?
The New Testament knows no such thing as "just a pastor." And you'll never
read "just a small church," though some assemblies receiving an inspired
epistle were tiny.
Today, then, what seems like pastoral modesty may border on blasphemy.
Each church is a gathering of God's carefully chosen and loved people. A
summit meeting of royalty. Part of what Jesus Christ solemnly promised ...
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