Interlude (1)

Section One of this series dealt with what I miss now that I am doing "secular" ministry after thirty years as a parish pastor. Section Two was about what I don't miss.
Links to earlier sections:
Introduction
1. What I Miss: Part 1, part 2, part 3
2. What I Don't Miss: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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So Far, What Does This Mean?
One of the readers of this series asked me the other day- “So, you aren’t going back, are you?” That seemed to be his take on what I was saying in this series. I guess it would be possible to read it that way. I have spent a good deal of time talking about what I don’t miss. But I also spent a great deal of time about what I do miss.

But both of those miss the point.

This is for me, in essence, a reflection on the church and it’s role and place in our world. One thing that I have never doubted in these 3+ years of secular ministry is that I still care very deeply about the church and its future. I spent 30 years serving God through the church- and at times serving the church just because that was my calling from God.

In that is the pivotal point in the issues of whether I go back into parish ministry or not.

Calling.

I have told denominational leaders since going on leave of absence that I will consider any call sent to me with an open and prayerful mind. I am still a minister of, a clergy of the church. If God wants me to be in that position again I will be in that position again. I have learned through experience not to close doors on God and “never to say never.” I have no idea where this reflection will lead me personally, though. It is a mental and prayerful examination of what it’s like on the outside looking in. It is an attempt to say where I see the church and what I think might be some insights into its future.

Calling is a tricky idea to deal with in the church. When it has a small “c” it is generic. It is what any Christian can be “called” to do for God. We have the other one with the capital “C” which has come to mean service to the church. I am not sure I like that dichotomy. It doesn’t appear as if Jesus did. It ends up with power or prestige or more-vs.-less holiness. When I get to the end of this series I may perhaps have a better idea of what that means to me.

But next week I will move on to the next thought- what I mean by secular ministry. Until then, I reflect on the idea of calling by remembering what one of my guides- Frederick Buechner -
has said about calling:

The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

That is what this is really all about for individuals and for the church.