I started this secret public journal of a newsletter so that I would have a space to be honest about the realities of being a pastor in the not-really-post-pandemic mainline church.
So far, ‘being honest’ has meant being honest about the hard things, and, while there have been a lot of hard things about being a pastor for a long time, many of those things were exacerbated by the pandemic, from decreasing engagement and shrinking budgets to the ways that people think about the church. And it is important to me to be honest about those things; and, whether you are a pastor or a lay person, I think that it is important for you to hear about those things.
But ‘being honest’ also means being honest about the good things. And I want to take this post to point out some of the good things that showed up near the end of 2022.
Good Thing No. 1: My Congregation Gives A Lot
A lot of churches—and a lot of pastors—are worried about finances. Mine included. We ended 2022 with a substantial deficit. While we were able to cover that with savings, we are anticipating an even bigger deficit in 2023. I imagine that later this year, we will start having conversations around questions like, “Can we afford a full time pastor,” and, “should we cannibalize the endowment to pay our bills?”
And the committee that manages our budget and our fundraising knows that, they have had conversations about that, and they are worried about that.
But, when it came time to collect things for the food pantry—non-perishable food items, paper goods, toiletries, cold-weather gear, and all of that—the people of the congregation gave a lot. Every year, after our Blue Christmas service, I take all of the items that have been collected and put them on and around the altar so that we can bless it at the Christmas Eve service. And there was a lot this year; the altar overflowed.
And, when a group in our area started working to house Ukrainian refugees, the same committee that is worried about our budget started talking about how we can help. They haven’t made any firm plans on that yet, but the first suggestion was using the parsonage fund—the money that we got when we sold the parsonage years ago—to buy a house that could be a home for refugees.
And there are plenty of other examples that I could give.
The people of this congregation—people who I am sure are worried about paying their own bills—are quick to give to people with more needs than themselves.
And this congregation as a whole—a congregation that I know is worried about paying its own bills—is quick to think about how it can serve the community.
Good Thing No. 2: The Kids Are Alright and the Congregation Is Willing to Play Along
I tried something different for the lighting of the Advent Candles this year. During the children’s time in worship, I talked with the kids about what this week’s candle meant. Then I handed one of the kids a piece of paper and told them to find someone who was not a member of their family and who was not the liturgist to read it. And the kids and I lit the candle together during that reading.
I honestly wasn’t sure if it was going to work. But every week, a kid found someone to read, and that person did not shoo the kid away, and we lit the candle together while that person read from the slip of paper.
And it was such a small thing, but it was an experiment, it engaged the kids in the practice of worship, it required adults to follow the kids’ leadership, and it went off without a hitch.
Good Thing No. 3: I Am Reorganizing My Life and the Church Is Supporting That
I started this Substack because I was coming apart at the seams. Some of that was because of the standard background stresses of being a pastor in an increasingly secular age. Some of that was because of the workload of the not-really-post-pandemic mainline church: a workload that included the things that we remembered from before the pandemic along with things that were supposed to be temporary during the pandemic but that became permanent. Some of that was because of other things.
I have managed to actually reorganize my life over the last couple of months. I’ve eliminated my office hours, I’ve made time for things that didn’t have time before, and I’ve reclaimed a second day off almost every week. And I’m going to be experimenting with more changes that I hope will make me a more effective and less stressed pastor.
Importantly, I feel like the congregation is being supportive in all of this. I don’t know what the future of this little consulate of the kingdom of God is going to look like, but at least I feel like I’m not walking into that future alone, I feel like we’re all—well, most of us, at least—are in this together.
And that is a good thing. All of these are good things.