Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind. – 1 Peter 3:8 Dear Disciple of Christ, Considering the stories I’ve been telling about my life starting out in pastoral ministry in Brooklyn, I wonder if you thought I had a tough time and …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Have you ever heard of the “Worship wars”? If you’re not familiar with them you may think it’s a religious television program (like “Storage Wars” except for church goers). You might likely think they are battles between denominations. If you’ve been to a variety of churches you realize that not all churches worship the …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Do you have any traditions in your family or business? I know you have traditions at church. If you are like most worshipers in my church, you have a traditional place to sit at church. In fact you may be somewhat perturbed that someone (usually a visitor) doesn’t know they are sitting in your …
Jesus said, “Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, …
Dear Disciples of Christ, Have you ever seen any movies of a city church’s children’s Christmas program? If you have, you have an idea of what really happens in a church like mine in Brooklyn. Let me describe the Christmas tableau (you know, the scene that develops as children come forward as various participants in the story). …
Dear Disciple of Christ, I’ve mentioned before the matriarch in my Brooklyn Church, the widow of the first pastor who was there 42 years. A “matriarch” is a woman who has a position of authority (often based on some actions or positions held in the past). Being the widow of the founding pastor gives that person a …
Dear Disciple of Christ, One of the “new things” pastors deal with as pastors, are the “rites” of the church. We do baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals. It is most often the decision of a pastor whether they will set “restrictions” on any of these rites. For example, the pastor (or congregation) may have standards for a …
Dear Disciple of Christ, For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not …
Dear Disciple of Christ, I wonder if I could pause here for a moment and spend just one more posting looking at the issue of our visitors and how we can welcome them. Toward the end of my first 5 years of ministry (and pastoring that church in Brooklyn), I went back to “school.” Actually, the program …
Dear Disciple of Christ, And Peter testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. …
Dear Disciple of Christ, If I were to ask you, what would you say is the “sine qua non” of the Church? That is, what is so essential that if it is not done, we have accomplished nothing? Are you thinking of the “Last Will” of Jesus, the directive (commission) He gave His disciples just before …
Dear Disciple of Christ, A few days ago (on Wednesday), the choir presented the story of the life and death of Jesus in music. (It will be presented again this Sunday at the 10:30am service). In the cantata we walked with Jesus as He went from the celebration of Palm Sunday, through the night of betrayal, His …
Dear Disciple of Christ, How do you feel about “dramas” in church? I know, as a worship leader, that they can, at times, be an effective way for people to “experience” some of the emotion of a particular point being made and message being proclaimed. So, for example, our church choir will, at times, do a cantata …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Have you ever heard the phrase (from a book by Robert Fulghum), “All I really needed to know I learned in Kindergarten”? I guess, in some ways, much of what I’ve learned for and about ministry came in my first 6 ½ years of serving my first church in Brooklyn. It was there that …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Quiz question. What miracle performed by Jesus is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)? Any idea? Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. – 1 Timothy 4:12 In my office there used to be a picture on the wall of me on my first anniversary of my ordination. I was 27 years old …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Last week I welcomed you back to these “Faithful Fridays” readings with a brief reflection on visions. From Proverbs we were reminded that…. “Where there is no vision, the people perish. ” (Proverbs 29:18) There is always more that can be said on any of these reflections and having set them aside for …
Dear Disciple of Christ, So by way of quick review, my wife and I had accepted the call to be pastor of a church in Brooklyn, New York. It was a fairly small church (with about 45 worshipers) and the entire salary package for me the pastor) was $5,600 per year (fully half their annual budget). …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Do you know the difference between an “ordination” and an “installation?” One is done once in a lifetime and one may be done again and again. All pastors are ordained once (unless they “switch” denominations) and installation happens whenever someone begins in a new church setting. You’re right if you’re thinking this seems to be …
Dear Disciple of Christ, Last week’s posting focused on the temptations we may have for us to use our “timeline” for life rather than God’s. Even now, looking back over those 9 years of study and preparations for pastoral ministry, it seemed like a long process. Those first four years of preparation (in Concordia Junior College in …
Dear Disciple of Christ, I expect few of you have ever seen my “diploma” on the wall in my office. My “Master of Divinity” (known as an “MDiv”) represents the successful completion of a theological student’s studies. Without that document, at least in the Lutheran church, a person cannot become a pastor. So, after eight years of study (four in college …
November 18, 2022 Dear Disciple of Christ, It is almost here, isn’t it? The season of Advent is almost upon us (starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 27th) and we will turn our attention to the coming of Christ. Would I be wrong to suggest that if you’re thinking of doing that (going to worship to celebrate His birth), …
Dear Disciple of Christ, I really feel that my vicarage year was one of the most valuable of the eight years of preparation for ministry. In actuality, that third year of the four year preparation in seminary was not always required of future Lutheran pastors. As I remember, it was initially offered as an option for those …
October 28, 2022 Dear Disciple of Christ, We want you to know, brethren, about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part. 3 For they gave according to …
October 21, 2022 Dear Disciple of Christ, Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence 1 Peter 3:15 My remembrances of my vicarage (the 3rd year of my seminary training) continue. With any vicarage, much of what …