Ministry in a changing time

 I accepted my first pastoral position in 1981. As I've written elsewhere, I went to that church with no education beyond high school and no pastoral experience. It was truly on-the-job training, and I'm thankful for the patience of that church. That ministry lasted 20 years until I accepted a call to become a Resource Minister with our judicatory. That ministry lasted 14 years before I retired. This past summer I accepted the call to serve as pastor of another church. Man, have things changed!

Last week I began to clean out file cabinets, something I should have done years ago. One drawer had my sermons for those 20 years of pastoral ministry. I looked at some of the earlier ones and realized just how bad I was. They all went to the trash can. On New Year's Eve I sat in front of my bookshelves and realized how dated some of my books are. They will also need to be pitched. I'm a firm believer that you cannot fix today's problems with yesterday's solutions.

Of course, many churches attempt to do just that. Many congregations remember when their sanctuaries were filled every week, and, despite their dwindling numbers, they believe they can recapture those glory years by doing the same things they've always done. Their order of worship never changes, they continue to sing the same songs and repeat the same prayers, and wonder why people don't rush in to fill the pews each week.

We are repeatedly told that while many Americans have little faith in the church, they continue to have great interest in God and Jesus Christ. Numerous studies have found many hunger for spiritual truth, and just as many studies show that a majority do not believe that hunger will be met in the traditional church. This should create a wake-up call for the church, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

As a pastor, I know I have to approach ministry differently than I did in 1981. That model doesn't work any more. As churches, we have to do the same thing. People are not looking for religious social clubs. If they are interested in a church at all, they will look for churches that have doctrinal integrity rather than one that tries to appease the politically correct crowd. They do not want a watered-down gospel; they want a faith upon which they can build their lives. They want a church that is actively ministering to the real needs that people have. It's OK for churches to support missionaries overseas, but they also want to see a church that is also meeting the needs that exist in their own communities. They want to have real relationships with real people and not feel they have to wear a "happy Christian" mask all the time.

We are beginning a new year, and for some of us in church leadership, we need to take this time to reflect on beginning a new way to approach ministry.