The 7% Panel
One of the young pastors at the conference told conference leadership that the pace was slow and the under 40 view was missing. Conference leadership decided that the morning panel on "What is needed from the next generation of leaders?" would only take questions from the under 40 group (the 7% of pastors who are under 40). They also found a way to create a panel discussion that would be led by 5 of the group. Those of us under 40 met before the 2nd panel of the morning and decided on who would be on the panel. We wanted to be as diverse as we could for the discussion. I was the only one of the 5 who isn't currently ordained. The lunch hour was spent writing a 4 minute speech. I was the first on the panel to speak. We all had a different take, but look ahead to the challenge that is before the church.
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here? The 7% of pastors under 40 and everyone under forty is part of it, we are being handed the torch but….This auditorium and the people in our home churches are the hope of the church, right here and right now. So what do we do when we get back? We all go back to our homes, roll up our sleeves and get started.
I saw a cartoon that said “Why do we sing “Standing on the Promises, when all we do is sit on the premises?” We need to remember that at the end of worship we are sent out into the world. Pastors have the job of making the Word of God relevant to the people, of helping them see their story within the Bible. The laity have the job of taking that Word and putting it in play in their daily vocation, living the Word into the world. This is how as Robert Bohl encouraged us we begin to act ourselves to a new way of thinking.
Moderator Joan Gray and others have talked about the fact that trust has eroded. That the trust we once had was neglected, was not built upon and has slipped away. The theological education of the laity has experienced the same trend. Presbyterians have always valued education, but we are becoming more and more a people who are unable to think, speak, and act theologically. This directly affects the governance of our church. Elders have the same voice and vote as pastors, it is critical that they are educated in the Bible, polity and theology. We have gradually lost this. We have been reduced to bumper sticker theology. We need to rediscover biblical and theological education in the pews.
Spanning the age gaps. We have many in our congregations who as Frieda Gardner termed them, are chronologically gifted. We need to encourage those who have faithfully served in the church and pair them with youth and young adults, to help cultivate the next generation of leaders pastors, deacons, and elders. Nurture gifts for leadership by bringing new leaders alongside veterans. We maintain tradition and history, but we also bring revitalization. But this can only happen if we do as Ted Wardlaw suggested and listen hard to one another.
Bill Carl talked of boring times and crisis times, crisis time presents a great opportunity to grow. This may be a painful time, but what can we learn in the midst of it? Many in our denomination have been afraid and we have allowed our fear to hold us in ecclesiological captivity. Our pervasive question has been “What if this doesn’t work?” The question we need to start asking is “What if it does?” This question leads us to step out in faith and take a risk.
I am doing pulpit supply preaching in Southwest Oklahoma in 2 days. I am preaching on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Beginning at verse 8 8Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power* is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. The phrase that jumped off the page was “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” We have a thorn in the flesh, the hurt, the anger, and the arguments that have surrounded us. Have we tried to rely too much on human effort to resolve issues. When we are at our weakest, we must turn and rely on God, trusting in God’s sovereignty and in God’s grace. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out, this grace is not cheap. It requires us to drop everything and follow, to let go of ourselves, to empty ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. In the words of St. Catherine of Sienna “May I be made small in me that I may be made great in Thee.”
So where do we go from here? We go back to our churches, ready to get to work. We let go of our agendas and desires and listen hard for the still small voice. We pour ourselves out that we might be filled with God and we trust that God’s grace is sufficient for us.
And to close with a little bumper sticker theology….
Get involved … the world is run by people who show up.
Where do we go from here?
Where do we go from here? The 7% of pastors under 40 and everyone under forty is part of it, we are being handed the torch but….This auditorium and the people in our home churches are the hope of the church, right here and right now. So what do we do when we get back? We all go back to our homes, roll up our sleeves and get started.
I saw a cartoon that said “Why do we sing “Standing on the Promises, when all we do is sit on the premises?” We need to remember that at the end of worship we are sent out into the world. Pastors have the job of making the Word of God relevant to the people, of helping them see their story within the Bible. The laity have the job of taking that Word and putting it in play in their daily vocation, living the Word into the world. This is how as Robert Bohl encouraged us we begin to act ourselves to a new way of thinking.
Moderator Joan Gray and others have talked about the fact that trust has eroded. That the trust we once had was neglected, was not built upon and has slipped away. The theological education of the laity has experienced the same trend. Presbyterians have always valued education, but we are becoming more and more a people who are unable to think, speak, and act theologically. This directly affects the governance of our church. Elders have the same voice and vote as pastors, it is critical that they are educated in the Bible, polity and theology. We have gradually lost this. We have been reduced to bumper sticker theology. We need to rediscover biblical and theological education in the pews.
Spanning the age gaps. We have many in our congregations who as Frieda Gardner termed them, are chronologically gifted. We need to encourage those who have faithfully served in the church and pair them with youth and young adults, to help cultivate the next generation of leaders pastors, deacons, and elders. Nurture gifts for leadership by bringing new leaders alongside veterans. We maintain tradition and history, but we also bring revitalization. But this can only happen if we do as Ted Wardlaw suggested and listen hard to one another.
Bill Carl talked of boring times and crisis times, crisis time presents a great opportunity to grow. This may be a painful time, but what can we learn in the midst of it? Many in our denomination have been afraid and we have allowed our fear to hold us in ecclesiological captivity. Our pervasive question has been “What if this doesn’t work?” The question we need to start asking is “What if it does?” This question leads us to step out in faith and take a risk.
I am doing pulpit supply preaching in Southwest Oklahoma in 2 days. I am preaching on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Beginning at verse 8 8Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power* is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. The phrase that jumped off the page was “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” We have a thorn in the flesh, the hurt, the anger, and the arguments that have surrounded us. Have we tried to rely too much on human effort to resolve issues. When we are at our weakest, we must turn and rely on God, trusting in God’s sovereignty and in God’s grace. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out, this grace is not cheap. It requires us to drop everything and follow, to let go of ourselves, to empty ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. In the words of St. Catherine of Sienna “May I be made small in me that I may be made great in Thee.”
So where do we go from here? We go back to our churches, ready to get to work. We let go of our agendas and desires and listen hard for the still small voice. We pour ourselves out that we might be filled with God and we trust that God’s grace is sufficient for us.
And to close with a little bumper sticker theology….
Get involved … the world is run by people who show up.
posted by Karen Wagner | 4:34 PM
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