A new kind of pastor
As seminaries rework the ways they train new pastors, congregations may have to alter their “image” of a pastor.
“We look at the world around us, and the church, as beautiful and wonderful as it has been, is not eff ective in reaching out to new people,” said Louise Johnson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. “We’re not growing.”
Congregations often believe it’s the pastor’s job to get new members and increase attendance at worship, but evangelism is actually the task of every member. Furthermore, “serving the world” is the goal of today’s church, and that means more outreach in the community.
One participant involved in the listening portion of the Theological Education Advisory Committee study said, “The entire Christian church in North America (not just Lutherans) has focused much too heavily in the past 60 years on meeting the needs of its members.”
“Our congregations have for too long been places where people had their needs met without being sent out to meet the needs of the world,” said another person involved in the research. “We need to form and equip leaders who can both cast a vision and help people own and live it.”
Pastors prepared for greater service in the world will be teaching members how the gospel enables everyone to reach out and engage in the needs of the world, not just
their own spiritual lives. This is a diff erent image than the view that the pastor is primarily the spiritual leader of a congregation.
New pastors, trained for this kind of outreach, may meet resistance in congregations that see the leader’s role as primarily providing care within the church walls. Those new pastors will need to have the leadership skills to handle opposition.
But it’s vital to the spiritual health of congregations and the whole ELCA, said one participant, that churches focus on missions and ministries that extend beyond the walls of individual congregations.
Said another respondent: “I believe we are being called to create ways in which seekers/ nones/the lapsed can gain an experience of the living God. I believe we are being called to fi nd new ways to create genuine community.”
ELCA seminaries as of Dec. 31, 2016 • Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. • Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. • Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.). • Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. • Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C. • Pacifi c Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif. • Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. • Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.
Download a study guide by clicking on the “Spiritual practices & resources” tab at
LivingLutheran.org.
Charles Austin is a retired ELCA pastor living in Teaneck, N.J. He has also been a reporter for The New York Times and other news organizaitons.
LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
