Friday, July 18, 2008

Pastoral initiative


When I served as pastor of a church, every now and then parishioners would ask to speak to me about some personal or family problem. This does not happen very often. Most of my pastoral contacts are contacts I initiate. We make these contacts at fellowship group meetings, baby parties, wedding receptions, church picnics, and other settings where people gather. We sit next to people we want to talk to, ask about how their life has been going, and give them a space to talk about themselves. Sometimes people don't want to talk. That's okay too.

One way to take pastoral initiative is to ask yourself at the beginning of the week what three or four people need to hear from you this week. Call them on the phone. Take them out for coffee. Tell them you want to get up to date on their lives.

Pastor means shepherd. It's the shepherd's job to keep track of the sheep. That is what pastoral initiative is all about. This is not just for pastors. Lay people can function in a pastoral way too.

1 comment:

MusicMike said...

Dear Rev. Chuck,

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. This topic of pastoring catches my eyes right away. It's quite a straight forward advice that I as the new kid in town often overlook. Appreciate that you take time to write that down to benefit new servants following His footsteps.

May God bless you,
Michael Lin
CCCC / San Jose