(If you’ve followed these entries for awhile, you’ll recognize the theme right away: “Take care of your pastor.” Today a little more oomph and currency to those thoughts. Looking ahead at the place of this vocation in our personal and societal well-being.)
The coming days/weeks may turn into trying times, individually and for our nation. Whether there will be disagreements, discomforts or tribulations isn’t yet known. If we look beyond possibly dire circumstances, we soon realize that our own attitudes or behaviors can be part of the corrections for the problems we dread.
Our places of worship are one place God offers refuge, wisdom and courage. In each of those places, the emotional atmosphere is largely determined by women and men who serve those congregations as pastors.
Pastors—and other professional and volunteer church leaders—will have a key role in our society surviving whatever troubles may be looming. Pastors offer us their caring presence. But they also preside over sacraments that bring us forgiveness. Pastors work diligently to distill Scripture into wisdom that we can incorporate into our core beings. None of this has ever been easy work—something even more true in the future.
Let’s circle back to our roles as caregivers for our pastors. “Pastoral care” will likely extend past polite appreciation and affirmation. We can ensure our pastors’ financial and relational well-being. We can listen to them more closely—asking deeper, emotionally honest questions. We can double-check our assumptions about their workloads. We can check more frequently on their health and self-care. We can honor their other roles—scholar, spouse, parent, friend, seer. We can extend ourselves further into our congregations’ ministries, so that those that are the most-essential continue to thrive. If necessary, we can protect our pastors, professionally and personally.
These tasks can be joyful and rewarding—our pastors are exceptional, fascinating leaders. So our pastoral care might also fulfill our hopes to be courageous and purpose-minded people of God.
May it be so among us….
