Beyond the Pulpit 5.31.26
Pastor Christy is out this week, but she will be back with us next Sunday. In her absence, we are blessed to have Andrew Bessel lead us in worship today. Andrew hails from England, Nottingham to be precise, and teaches math at the Covenant School. Here at Crozet UMC he is in training with Virginia UMC’s rigorous Lay Servant Academy and leads our Sunday Grow Group for adults. I’ve been blessed to be a part of Andrew’s class each Sunday and I am looking forward to his message! It’s going to be great!
With Christy on vacation, this week I ended up talking to three different pastors. These discussions got me thinking about their calling and what we expect of our clergy.
Perhaps you’ve heard the old (and sometimes tired) joke is “How hard can a pastor’s job be? They only work one day a week!” Obviously, that’s not the case, but I think it’s also easy to lose track of what we ask of our clergy. Obviously, they are called to prayer, but there is so much more. We look to them for excellence as a preacher, leader, teacher, counselor, and administrator and that’s only part of it. A pastor’s week is filled with hospital, nursing home, and shut in visits; coordinating with outside organizations such as Love Inc and Impact Charlottesville; church administration, and of course preparation for worship. Every week fills up quickly and we still call on them to practice “self-care”, to make time to decompress, time for family, time to live their life. It can be a zoo!
What can we do to help?
Pray – Pray daily. Pray for them, their family, their ministry.
Offer Encouragement – We frequently look for what is wrong and miss the accomplishments. Celebrate success!
Extend Grace – Things will go right and things will go wrong. Be the first one to offer grace when it’s needed.
Pastoring any church is a huge job, one with many challenges. You and I can make it easier.
Grace and Peace
Doug Gaskell
Chair
Church Council