tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post970766317221155156..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Something old, something new...Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-75508889462071958882012-04-24T17:10:04.043-05:002012-04-24T17:10:04.043-05:00The senior pastor as CEO has been
here at least fo...The senior pastor as CEO has been<br />here at least for the past 25 years.<br />The Church Council has replaced the<br />Voters assembly except for issuing<br />calls to pastors and budget approval.<br /><br />The large suburban parish is not <br />going away any time soon. People are<br />enamored with large numbers in their<br />worship service and many programs to<br />choose from during the week. Can the<br />LCMS keep its Lutheran identity?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-24871359040699297732012-04-24T11:58:44.173-05:002012-04-24T11:58:44.173-05:00The amazing thing about this is what I hear from t...The amazing thing about this is what I hear from those who have come to us from other church bodies (the "fundies" and evangelicals to be exact). When they see what is going on in these pushes, they tell me, "We did this ten years ago in whatever-church-body-from-which-they-came and abandoned it."<br /><br />Right now, I think one of the most disturbing trends is the turn toward business-style leadership for the parish.Rev. Kevin Jenningsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-66482065179805367832012-04-24T09:50:40.138-05:002012-04-24T09:50:40.138-05:00"We have decided that the only criteria of fa..."We have decided that the only criteria of faithfulness worth mentioning is numbers."<br /><br /><br />Not just numbers, the right kind of numbers. Adult converts. Because then we can point to ourselves and say look how faithful we are. If we just accept the children God sends to us through our marriages, well the world won't look favorably on that. We reject them because the world rejects them. But we trust in ourselves, our methods, our wisdom more than what God freely gives us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-55527200610167076842012-04-24T09:45:24.055-05:002012-04-24T09:45:24.055-05:00"I am telling you that whenever you hear some...<i>"I am telling you that whenever you hear someone speak in this way, hold on to you wallets, your hymnals, your prayer books, your alb, your pipe organ, your pew, your Confessions, etc... When church leaders say we cannot afford to keeping doing what we have been doing, they mean nothing in the future will be the same. "</i><br /><br />The irony is that they are right. We cannot afford to keep doing contraception like we have been doing. The sad thing is that they want to throw out babies and keep the lukewarm bathwater. When they start noticing that birth control over the past 50 years is the thing we cannot afford to keep doing, I will take them seriously. <br /><br />Right now they want to keep all the stuff that correlates with death, and dismiss the life God freely gives us. They are control freaks totally freaked out that they are not in control. And to paraphrase Princess Leia, the tighter they hold to markers of worldly success, the more it will slip through their fingers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com