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 …