October 17, 2006

people day...

So, on paper I didn't get a thing done today. Not my contacting. Not sermon. Not much on our forum... but a good day nonetheless.
A people day.

4 appointments, one phone call from a church planter in another part of the country... The tiredness of a day well-spent.

One of the things I love about pastoring evergreen is this-I actually get to do what I'm in ministry to do. when we started, I formulated my job description. You want to hear it?

Okay, here it is: spend time with people (discipleship and counseling) and studying/teaching.
That's about it, really.

I've ended up doing a bit of admin stuff, but things run pretty well on their own right now. And my associate pastor and some other good community members really help carry the small bits that remain.

Basically, I get to be a pastor.

No, we haven't grown from 10 to 900 in 2 1/2 years. Not that growth llike that is bad, but I imagine it changes your role and changes it fast. We've grown slowly but steadily, and are going through a bit of a growth spurt right now. But at least for the minute it's still do-able...

I'm so glad that people can still get on my calendar, give me a call, sit and talk. Score one for simple church, for smaller, organic communities.

My role may very well change a bit at some point in the future. I think that even at the smaller number we've targeted to grow to and then start spinning off daughter communities, I'll have to focus more on shepherding those who are shepherding others (you know the drill...), but for now...

A good people day.

Oct 17, 2006 8:52:48 PM | evergreen, pastoral, personal

4 Comments

kyle

thanks for that...not much else to say but that really encouraged me.

Posted by: kyle | October 17, 2006 at 10:45 PM

Man, I miss what you are talking about. I am speaking to some church planters this week and telling them to enjoy this season even though it is difficult. Thanks for the post
dp

Posted by: | October 18, 2006 at 04:48 AM

mr bob

And so it begins. your leadership hierarchy. even 'dp' issues a soft warning. 'enjoy this season'. hmmm. you're already there, pastor bob. you can already imagine it.

Posted by: mr bob | October 19, 2006 at 10:53 PM

bob

Hey thanks for being an ass, mr bob. I appreciate you pissing on a good day!
Try not to work out your personal issues with authority and leadership on my blog, you know?

Posted by: bob | October 20, 2006 at 05:58 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
elders... I can't tell you how grateful I am to be serving in a community where I can go to an elders meeting filled with a certain amount of angst, a feeling of being pulled in many directions... and come away just settled and encouraged. Refreshed I know I've written on this before, but I also realize how rare a situation this is, so it bears highlighting again. Too many pastors struggle with boards made up of people who have weird agendas, who oppose everything, who see it as their job to "balance" the pastor. I'm thankful not for yes-people (because I certainly don't have that!) but for good people... men and women who serve my community with me, who pastor our church with love and a deep concern for God's Word and for people. So- thank you Sarah and Chip, and Mike and Chris for being this pastor's dream team. I look forward to seeing who else God will bring into this mix...
PREVIOUS POST
Scot McKnight blogging Sumner's Men and Women in the Church Scot McKnight is blogging Sarah Sumner's Men and Women in the Church You really should read this book... But start here with Scot's discussion (89 comments so far!!). And here. Sumner's book (along with Webb) was instrumental in the discussion our elders had during the first year of evergreen's existence on the issue of women in leadership in the church (I know some of you reading this don't understand why this would be an issue... I'm sorry- I don't have time to explain it all right now, but it's NOT because the church is backwards and hates women... though that description does fit a good number of institutions). It really helped us to solidify our position. So...Here's the deal- even if you think you have your position on women's roles in the churches all figured out and don't feel the need to do any reading on the subject, can I suggest that you read Sumner? A couple of reasons... 1. You probably never read a book on women's roles that was written by a woman who is at least twice as smart as you. 2. You probably never read a book on complementarianism/egalitarianism that took both to the woodshed 3....

bobhyatt

I'm a husband, father, pastor and church planter

Just my Thinking
The Typepad Team

Search

Become a Fan

My Other Accounts

Recent Comments