{"id":21296,"date":"2023-03-02T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=21296"},"modified":"2023-03-02T18:44:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T18:44:32","slug":"taking-a-balcony-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2023\/taking-a-balcony-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking a \u2018balcony view\u2019 of pastoral ministry and its challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Walt Wiltschek<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no such thing as a part-time church. Congregations are called to be the body of Christ at any given time in a wide range of places. More and more Church of the Brethren congregations, however, do not have full-time pastors–around 75 percent of them, according to some recent surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing that reality, how does the church support those who are called to serve while still carrying out the range of ministries needed? That\u2019s a question that the denomination\u2019s Part-Time Pastor, Full-Time Church program has wrestled with over the past few years, funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment as part of its Thriving in Ministry Initiative. A team of \u201ccircuit riders\u201d has provided resources and connections, with webinars, book studies, and spiritual direction among the offerings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Greg Davidson Laszakovits of GDL Insight (second from right) led in using the Gospel of Luke\u2019s account of the Emmaus Road experience as a framework for reflection, storytelling, and discernment. Photo by Walt Wiltschek<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Please pray\u2026<\/strong> For the Part-Time Pastor, Full-Time Church program, all who are involved in its leadership, and all the pastors who are participants.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

With just under two years remaining for the grant, the Church of the Brethren Office of Ministry gathered a group of circuit riders, advisory team members, district executives, and others at the denominational offices in Elgin, Ill., Feb. 24-26, to take a \u201cbalcony view\u201d of the program to date and consider possibilities and direction going forward. Led by Brethren leadership coach\/consultant Greg Davidson Laszakovits of GDL Insight, the group used the Gospel of Luke\u2019s eye-opening account of the Emmaus Road as a framework for reflection, storytelling, and discernment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That model of accompaniment and dialogue in community feels apt given all the fluctuations and challenges being faced by the church in a shifting cultural environment, intensified in the wake of the recent pandemic. One participant highlighted the opportunities amid all that, saying, \u201cThis is an exciting time for the church to be able to make changes that are important.\u201d Another noted the need for \u201chealing and grieving\u201d by congregations for that which has been lost, often requiring a re-thinking of identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laszakovits introduced a Brazilian Portuguese phrase that translates to something like, \u201cAnd then\u2026,\u201d encouraging contemplation of next steps that may flow naturally from where the church has been. That conversation eventually led to an \u201cexciting flip\u201d from the focus on the experience of being a part-time pastor to thinking more broadly about what it means to be a full-time church–a \u201ccommunity that is thriving and God-driven\u201d and \u201call in\u201d on its ministry. When congregation members embrace that call, it then makes the part-time ministry of a pastor more realistic and more energized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One pastor at the retreat said they found being bivocational was a blessing, as it kept them with a foot in the world outside the church, which made it \u201calmost a necessity to engage with people who don\u2019t show up at a church,\u201d a sort of \u201cmissional calling.\u201d Several participants named the need to articulate a strong Brethren theology of the long-held belief in a \u201cpriesthood of all believers,\u201d lifting up scripturally and philosophically why that is important to who we are as followers of Christ with a \u201cnew language\u201d of how the church talks about ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the program has yielded some positive results, only about 5 percent of Brethren pastors have participated in the Part-Time Pastor, Full-Time Church program thus far. That makes broader buy-in important in the next few years–especially as the program seeks sustainability after the grant has ended. What would a successful result look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the brainstorming and idea-sharing that followed, a number of potential short-term and longer-term priorities emerged, including enhancing marketing and awareness of the program, encouraging a culture of \u201cFull-Time Church\u201d in congregations, creating a directory of speakers and resources, facilitating deeper discussions between circuit riders and pastors, having more significant connections with districts, doing a sociological survey of part-time pastors to gather their stories and seek common themes, providing curriculum resources, and sponsoring a denomination-wide event to explore leadership and cultural shifts in ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done good work here,\u201d Laszakovits said as the conversation wound down. Then, reflecting on everything at stake in the notes on newsprint spread around the room, he pondered aloud, \u201cDoes anything in the church have more importance than this right now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about Part-Time Pastor, Full-Time Church at www.brethren.org\/ministryoffice\/part-time-pastor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Walt Wiltschek is district executive minister for Illinois and Wisconsin District, serves on the editorial team for <\/em>Messenger magazine, and also now holds a new part-time position as office coordinator for Brethren Volunteer Service.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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