A pastor has nothing of himself to give. I don't care much whether he's smart or slow, whether he's handsome or ugly, whether he's a great guy or a jerk. I care that he speaks the WORDS which God wants spoken. If he thinks he's got cool things to give us, I'm skeptical. I want him to read the book to me!
When the chaplain makes a hospital visit, he better be using the Pastoral Care Companion. When the pastor teaches Bible study, he better be using psalms and the hymnal for opening devotions, and for the class he better be using the Bible instead of "relevant" stories. When the pastor leads worship, it should be from the hymnal, Agenda, and Altar Book. And he should read all those notes in the Altar Book, the ones that tell you how to conduct a Tenebrae service, or that the Service of Prayer and Preaching is intended for catechetical services, but may be used on Sunday morning if there's no communion. Pastors should take note of the rubrics and obey them. After all, they have nothing to offer their people except what God wants them to have ... and those words are written in the book.
Pastor recently mentioned the missal stand and its placement. In Protestant churches the missal stand is in the center of the altar because the center of worship is understood to be our prayers to God. But in the Lutheran church, the missal stand is supposed to be off to the side so that the center is open. This is because the Sacrament of the Altar takes center place in our churches -- God's gift to us being a higher priority than our prayers to Him. At this point in the class, one of the men (a pastor himself) asked about it. He said that wasn't how it used to be; that wasn't how it was when he got out of sem. But Pastor pointed out that that was what was written in the book even back then.
Too many pastors only look at the pew edition of the hymnal and wing it as to rubrics and ceremony and other aspects of conducting the service. The book (such as the altar book, or the hymnal's handbook) tells you what to do. Your parishioners need you to READ THE BOOK! Read the book yourself to know what to do and how to do it. Read the book so that you are praying the liturgy that has been given by God to the Church through the centuries. Read the book so that you are praying what needs to be said instead of what tumbles out of your own heart and mouth. Please READ THE BOOK!
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*Say* the black; *do* the red, eh? :)
ReplyDeleteWas there something like the Pastoral Care Companion around before this one came out?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of my father-in-law, veteran of decades as a pastor and millions of bedside visits. I can't fathom him, at this stage, changing to another companion. But then, he knows Scripture so well - there's so much he carries around in his head and in his heart.
>Was there something like the Pastoral Care Companion around before this one came out?
ReplyDeleteNo. There was a "little agenda" for pastors to use for sick calls and funerals and other places where they wanted to take the book. But it wasn't the same as the PCC. That's new, and loads of pastors are saying, "I WISH there was something like this when I was a new pastor and didn't have a clue what to say." And those guys (even the ones with 20-40 years of experience) are latching onto the PCC and using it! There are even pastors in other denominations who appreciate it for the guidance in what Bible passages are appropriate for ministering to people in different situations.
I think the PCC is more important now than it was 50 years ago because of the environment pastors are in. They are surrounded by Christian radio and happy-clappy services and feel-good theology. The pastors like your father-in-law came out of sem with not much to "minister with" other than the Bible and hymnal and catechism. So they used what they had. And that's what we need to get back to. The PCC is a return to those basic books, those all-important words from the Bible and hymnal. Some pastors can speak the words in the PCC without having the book itself. But those who can't (those who focus on feelings, those who use that word "just," those who consider temporal blessings more important than the person's faith) ought to confine themselves to reading what's in the book.
It sounds like something my FIL might like as a gift, anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the Little Agenda at his house - at his place at the table is a heavily noted up little book (there's no margins left anywhere- they're all filled with his neat handwriting) in Hebrew, Greek, and German and his Bible.