Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Pastor?

I'm coming to the end of "Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness" and I'm getting a feel for what Peterson thinks a pastor isn't moreso than what a pastor is. This is probably b/c I'm so used to thinking of a pastor in the wrong way, according to Peterson, that I'm having trouble picturing the day-to-day life of Peterson's model.

Having said that, I'm interested in hearing what you consider a pastor to be, i.e. who is a pastor and what does a pastor do?

8 comments:

Dave King said...

I had the same tought towards the end of the book, but he does give plenty of hints, I think I'd like to read the contemplative pastor to get a better feel for how he sess the pastoral role.

Here's what I took away: a pastor helps people to see how God is active in their world, and how He is working in their life. How God is working in my life is not how he's working in your life, so the pastor needs to take the time to really know the people he's working with. I can not be a superficial contact, it's more than just seeing how people can be used in the church. A pastor should be a soul friend.

- Peace

- Peace

Reverend Joyleaf said...

How can a pastor be a soul friend when he is pastoring a congregation of 10,000 people?

Dave King said...

I'm sure Perterson would say you can't pastor a church of 10,000

Reverend Joyleaf said...

I would agree.

kris said...

So, how many people can a person be a pastor to?

Reverend Joyleaf said...

I think 12 is a good number.

Dave King said...

I know Peterson's church was in the 350 range.

- Peace

Anonymous said...

That's exactly what I think when I read Peterson's stuff about pastoring(and I think I've read most it) - I love it, admire it, long for it and I'm not really sure how it could ever work out in my sitution.

-Steve McMillan