Full-time Follower of Jesus, Part-time Pastor

Now that I got that processing about how private I want to be accomplished, on to part 1 of my musings about what I want to do with my life.

I've long understood that the plans I make for my life will likely be edited along the way. I never became a public school teacher (yet), even though I was convinced between the ages of 8 and 20 that I wanted to do that. I haven't been an ordained chaplain - only fulfilling that role in a student role. I haven't become the senior pastor of a large congregation (yet?), realizing that the place that could have led to that role was not for me.

In recent years, I've been a part-time (interim) pastor. The other full-time job I have is to be the primary parent to preschoolers. When they go to school, I will likely be looking to fill my time differently. To work more than I do now. And, I'm contemplating supplementing that work with a role that is outside of organized religion - outside of the church.

I have seen rumblings in the last 10 years or so about how pastors of my generation should probably be prepared to be bi-vocational before we reach retirement age. Many congregations are not able to afford (or need) full-time clergy. While there is definitely a stress related to being a part-time pastor, I have found some joy in being able to be immersed in other ways than pastor when I'm in the community. While there is always more to do, that is the case for full-time ministry as well.

I've had some thoughts about the place of the church in society as it is now. I do not mourn that our particular form of organized religion is changing. That membership is going down. That we are not as powerful as we used to be. I'm positive I need to go into this more deeply in a future post - because I'm not trying to sink any ships either. But, I've long been impatient with the bemoaning that our experience of church is no longer what it used to be. That we do not hold the cultural capital we once did. I am actually hopeful that we are being forced to evolve.

And, that evolution may be away from the expectation that clergy is a full-time position of one who fulfills the ministry of the church.

To be continued....