tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post4582683985222425425..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Who votes for the Church?Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-5131770148626287782012-11-13T15:13:29.574-06:002012-11-13T15:13:29.574-06:00People have pointed out to me, and I've now no...People have pointed out to me, and I've now noticed it myself, that when the Bible speaks of instances of choosing by lot, they frist winnow down the possible choices. So we identify a group, sometimes only two, who fit into the category, or meet the prerequisites of the position to be filled. There are people who are remarkably good as manipulating democracy and who are born that way. Any group they get into it's a power game for them. Perhaps adding in enough choosing by lot, would foil those if us who are democracy meisters. We certainly know that systems depending on good princes and good overseers, works no better than democracy. The Scandinavians fly into our faces whenever we think that bishop rule might be a good thing. <br /><br />Maybe a nicely cantelevered system that includes all three components to ameliorate the problems of each is what we are looking for. Our pastors need pastors, and they should have overseers chosen by log from the oldest of the groups. We need to keep our business needs separate from our spiritual needs. The pastor's overseer's fill only spiritual needs primarily by visitation, in fact that's how we pay them by the number/quality of the visits they make. (A constant church problem is people get tired of visiting and pawn it off on underlings, or just don't do it.) The Visiting Overseer is clerical. The Business overseer is not. <br /><br />We need deacons, both lay and clergy. The Deacon/Deaconess are those who lead the way of mercy by serving "our daily bread" at the table of the worshipers and of the laity of the children of God, and of the strangers within our gates.<br /><br />The clery deacon, would be the Altar Deacon and could be a certified seminarian, who comes prepared to keep the altar and run all those parts of the altar area not obtaining to the preacher/pastor. The Altar Deacon will be sexton and sacristan of the santuary and it's associated rooms. He will dress the Altar table and run the teams of lay altar servers (acolytes, crucifers...) He will liaise between the preacher/pastor and the music program. He will be trained in voice (chant) and will normally be the celebrant except for those parts necessarily done by the preacher/pastor (absolution, preaching,.....) <br /><br />He could function like the service manager, somewhat like wedding managers. "Now you go and turn left at the altar rail. Then you go and....." He will be expert in puting the worship service (as mutually planed) into the software used to make the bulletins. <br /><br />Now in Bach's day, this person also rang the little consecration bell when the Preacher/pastor sings the words of consecration. <br /><br /><br />And my favorite, he will insure that at least 2 Lutheran hymns are sung at every worship service. And that all special music is based on Lutheran hymns or by Lutheran composers. I think we should install a fee payment for each non-Lutheran hymn sung in our Lutheran churches. It could be like a synod copyright system. You sing a Methodist or English Baptist hymn and you must pay a penalty fee to the Deacons' poor box of $25.00 per sectarian hymn.<br /><br />Such seminarians who spend their vicarage as an Altar Deacon will return to the seminaries extremely well trained in church worship, even if the local pastor really didn't have much time to teach them anything. It will be a sink of swim experience.<br /><br />This is just a jumble of ideas, but I'd love to make a white paper on such developments in our church. Checks and balances to democracy, and some regard for decisions not made by the human brain. And carrot sticking the visitor overseers. At least it's work thinking about.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09777514643611989502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-14037077604378577472012-11-13T12:17:29.132-06:002012-11-13T12:17:29.132-06:00Luther was no fan of democracy. He called it mob r...Luther was no fan of democracy. He called it mob rule and pandering to the lowest common denominator and a system whereby mediocrity became the standard to aspire to. That said, why does the LCMS or the ELCA or any other Lutheran body still insist on keeping a democratic polity which will result in what has happened with the ELCA's stance on ordination of women or gays (in committed relations or not) or a host of any other issue. Democracy will be your demise, no matter how well catechized and informed your laypersons are. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08038508116670615703noreply@blogger.com