Ministry: My Role, Your Role

This is a two part worship series I am looking at for November 12 & 19, how the ministry of the pastor and ministry of the laity complement one another --and how both are important to the fruitfulness of any given faith community's ministry.

Why this, why now?

I feel called to do better at leadership through self-differientiation [thanks Ed Friedman]. I have some sins to confess and there are changes I must make. I have also watched one of my colleagues and one of our local faith communities experiencing the aftermath of her resignation ... and had someone in one of my churches speculate to other church people [not, by the way, to me] that I might resign my current pulpits to seek that one. [Nope, no intention of that.] I also know that it is time to find some new leadership within my congregations and be more intentional about involving more folks in its workings. It seems like a good time to explain that one reason why pastors resign is because sometimes they cannot live up to the unreal expectations that are placed on them, and to explain what is realistic and what isn't.

My thinking about all of this is just in the very beginning stages, so I welcome the comments of the Revgalblogpals. Think of it as a major opportunity to vent --then reflect! I am particularly interested in the comments of those of you who have done this sort of thing before ...

In the meantime, I have a 3 part series on homosexuality and the bible to get through for October, a guest preacher for whom to handle the logistics, and a niece's wedding to attend.