(3) It would seem to me...

Let me till you about my Pastor….

My Pastor graduated with a Master’s of Divinity degree, from a well-known Christian seminary, in the early 1990’s. She was ordained shortly thereafter by a Mainline Christian denomination and began her career as a Pastor by serving as an Associate minister at a church in Southwestern Florida.

In 2002 she became the Senior Pastor of the church (where I regularly attend) where she now serves, and cares for a congregation of about 350-400 parishioners.

My Pastor is faced with the task that most Mainline Pastors are faced with today, albeit; to serve the church in a time of dramatic cultural and spiritual change. She must not only preach the gospel of the ‘Popular Christianity’ (that which is understood primarily by the people-in-the-pews), but also, she must tend to that segment of the ‘flock’ that has moved beyond the ‘Popular Christianity’ to a more mature and intellectual understanding of the church and religion. This is a ‘balancing act’ that will challenge many mainline Christian Pastors for years to come.

It would seem to me… my Pastor is making great progress in accomplishing the dynamics of this ‘balancing act’. Her sermons are biblically based but not dogmatic. She uses scripture to reference a thought, an ideal, a situation, but her reference to the scripture seldom implies a literal interpretation. In Bible study classes she will often explain the scriptures as the experience of those of the ancient world, but not necessarily our experience, today, in the 21st century. She has instigated small (but important) changes in the liturgy of the worship service that are helping to move the congregation toward a more mature understanding of the Christian religion. Her sermons are life affirming messages that comfort and inspire, (as opposed to those that instill fear and intimidation).

It would seem to me… this is the path that Mainline Pastors mush begin to walk if the Church is to have a chance for survival, and the sooner the better.

It would seem to me… there are a great number of people in Church pews who are silently waiting for this movement to begin and untold others who have left the Church because – in many cases – it has not.

But then… I could be wrong………….barry e