Outside the Parish

[Charles_Austin]

How do pastors represent the ministry outside the parish?

I often hear references to "busy pastors" who have too much to do in their parish to fret about things "outside" their congregation.

Can this really be true? Don't pastors have a responsibility to represent the Church in extra-parochial settings? Isn't that a part of witness and evangelism?
Here are some ways I think pastors are obligated to engage in ministry that is not strictly parochial. (On the other hand, it is, because on is representing the parish.)

Locally: Participation in councils of churches, ecumenical services, organizations providing food pantries, community groups with concerns that mirror those of the church, events such as Memorial Day and Veterans' Day commemorations. Membership in groups like Kiwanis or Rotary or League of Women Voters. (I do not believe pastors should be actively involved in things that are "political," such as parties or holding public office, but there may be village, town, or city entities where one could serve in a non-partisan way - I once chaired my town's ethics board.)

In the synod: on synodical committees and task forces, attending synod events, channeling people from the parish into synodical training and education activities.

In the ELCA: volunteering at ELCA Assemblies, Global Mission Events, Churchwide youth gatherings; serving on ELCA department committees, study panels, attending seminary continuing education events

I believe pastors should spend part of their time on non-parochial matters and that congregations should recognize such things as extensions of their witness. When a pastor says he or she is "too busy in the parish" to deal with these other things, I suggest lthat this is too limited a view of the parish.

[Brian Stoffregen]

I believe pastors should spend part of their time on non-parochial matters and that congregations should recognize such things as extensions of their witness. When a pastor says he or she is "too busy in the parish" to deal with these other things, I suggest lthat this is too limited a view of the parish.

An approach I've shared with congregations is that I will use my volunteer time for things "outside the parish" i.e., "outside my 'job'," just as I expect the lay people to volunteer their time to things "inside the parish," which is "outside of their jobs." I don't believe that my volunteer time should be spend doing more parish things.

[Dave_Poedel]

All well and good, respecting (of course) the culture of ones community and Church (congregation, District and Synod - LCMS)

[Charles_Austin]

Pastor Poedel writes:
All well and good, respecting (of course) the culture of ones community and Church (congregation, District and Synod - LCMS)

I ask:
How does the "culture of ones community" and the district and synod impact the need for a pastor to be present and represent the church outside the parish?

[Gary Hatcher]

Pastor Poedel writes:
All well and good, respecting (of course) the culture of ones community and Church (congregation, District and Synod - LCMS)

I ask:
How does the "culture of ones community" and the district and synod impact the need for a pastor to be present and represent the church outside the parish?

In some communities the furor over a pastor who had time for anything beyond the parish would be so damaging to their ministry that it is best not to engage in outside activity.  That is not a very healthy situation, but I was criticized for taking time during the day to play with my son.  I should have been at work.     This same parish was not happy that I had time for community theatre when I should have been working.  Of course, when pressed as what was meant by "working" none of the complainers could specify what they felt was being neglected, it was just that in their eyes the pastor's time belonged completely to the parish.  As I said, not a very healthy situation, but that was the local culture.

[Charles_Austin]

Gary Hatcher writes:
In some communities the furor over a pastor who had time for anything beyond the parish would be so damaging to their ministry that it is best not to engage in outside activity.

I comment:
Then, over time, that attitude has to be changed. And I am not speaking of hobby or recreational activities (though the line between that and ministry is sometimes blurred), but I am speaking of the pastor's presence in the community in general. Seems to me that time spent with community groups might be considered an extension of ministry. If parishioners don't think so, they need to be taught.

[Keith Falk]

While I know my parishoners don't consider the time I spend at our local high school's football games as "work" time, it is certainly a part of my ministrty (6 state titles in 15 years means football is everything in our little town).  You go to the football games if you are a part of the community.  Same with shopping at our IGA for groceries and eating at the downtown diner.  I don't have to "do" anything - people know that the tall blond guy with the little energetic blond boy is the "new" Lutheran pastor in town... and look, he's making himself a part of our community!  It has made a great difference in the ministry we do.

In a broader sense, when I volunteered for a week at church camp as the camp pastor, I told the council that it was a part of my ministry and not vacation, etc.  No problems, complaints, or objections - none voiced at the meeting, none that have trickled down to me via other means. 

[Charles_Austin]

Ken Falk writes:
n a broader sense, when I volunteered for a week at church camp as the camp pastor, I told the council that it was a part of my ministry and not vacation, etc.  No problems, complaints, or objections - none voiced at the meeting, none that have trickled down to me via other means.

I comment:
Hooray! This is the way it is supposed to be.

[Richard Johnson]

Interesting topic. I find a lot of gray areas here. For me, I've always thought that working "outside the parish" on things clearly church-related--my seven years as synod secretary, e.g.--was a no-brainer. It was part of my ministry. But some other "church-related" things (adjunct seminary teaching, e.g., or my work with ALPB) were a little more peripheral, and I've had to think about just how "congregational ministry related" they were.

Same with "secular" things. When I served on the board of a local housing agency, it "felt" quite ministry related. When I served on the board of a musical arts organization, it felt less so.

When I volunteered in my kids' classrooms, it felt entirely personal, even though it was "in the community."

I don't think there are hard and fast rules, but I think we have to be sensitive and thoughtful to how we consider things in the context of parish ministry.

[peter_speckhard]

When I taught at the local Concordia extension I considered it a side gig, not part of the congregational ministry, mostly because I was paid for it (and not just in token terms, but real pay). When I did the three-year, twelve seminar pastor-theologian program, I did not count it as vacation because the elders agreed it was good professional development. But when I volunteer at Camp Luther for a week every summer, I do count it as vacation. I'm there with my family with one hour a day of responsibilities, for which we get housing, meals, and our run of the camp activities all week. If that were my only contact with the camp every year, a better case could be made that it involved necessary networking in our district, but I'm there three or four times a year anyway. The week in the summer is pure relaxation. Heck, they even pre-print the Bible studies they want the pastors to do. It'd be a pretty tough sell to say I'm up there on official business. Confirmation Camp, on the other hand...

[Charles_Austin]

Stuff we do for extra pay is certainly a grey area (unless we turn the pay over to the parish). I have always written newspaper and magazine articles for pay over the last 40 years, and
I do it on "my time," even when the topic is theology or the church.

[Brian Stoffregen]

It can even be difficult to determine what is "inside the parish 'work'". At my first call, the council wanted me to keep track of my "work" time. When I played tennis with the chair of the youth committee, was that "work" or "recreation" time? We usually finished up the match with a beer and conversation. I counted it as work. When I eat at a diner, where everyone knows I'm a minister, and I visit with the staff, is that "work" or "personal" time? At another Call, I was a paid accompanist at a local high school. That put me in contact with a whole lot of high school youth that I wouldn't have met otherwise. I had one wedding come out of those contacts. Was that part of my outreach into the community, even though I was paid for doing it?

On the other side, a member at my present, soon to be former, congregation complained that the previous minister would mow the lawn of a elderly member and considered that part of his ministry. The council member disagreed. At another former congregation, soon after I arrived, I was told that the previous minister mowed the church lawn. I told them that he's not going to do it any more so they needed to find someone else. (I don't even mow my own lawn.)

My folks, after dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, were very appreciative of their minister who, among other things, took their TV to a repair shop and brought it back to them.

Who determines what is "ministry"? The pastor? the council? those who are helped? I am certain that we clergy do a lot of ministry that we never know about it. We affect many people in ways that we seldom hear about. (Since I have announced my resignation, I am hearing more about my "affectiveness".)

[Gary Hatcher]

I can't speak to ministry in a large urban area, but in a small town (1100), everything thing I do affects the ministry of the parish.  There is no time when I am in town that I am "not on the job".  Folk do not make the distinction between my personal time, the church's time and the community time.  They are more or less one.  I currently serve on the local school board (not enough stress and conflict in the parish for me  ) and have done other things along the same lines in the past, as well as served on various local shared ministries and synod level responsibilities.  I regard pretty much everything I do as parish work when I am in town.

[ROB_MOSKOWITZ]

I am a volunteer firefighter, Cub scout Cubmaster and member of the Legion.   In all of these I am known as a pastor.  My nick name in the department is Padre.  In all I lead prayer, indulge in theological discussion and have offered pastoral care. 

Maybe its a country thing.  But my church expects me to be involved in the community as a Pastor.    Seperating the 2 is as ignorant as seperating a Christians life on Sunday from the rest of the week.

Yours In Christ
Pastor Rob Moskowitz

[pastorg1@aol.com]

I have a simple way to tell whether or not I am "on the clock," as a pastor in my activities outside the parish:

I ask myself, "Am I wearing my clerics, and thus publically representing the Church for the Kingdom of God?"

So, I answer, "Yes," if I am:

1. Teaching a writing class in the local rec. center. (Lots of Biblical asides and examples of Biblical literature.)

2. Lions Club chaplain. (Public prayer/ e-mail prayer-list / funerals / hospital calls.)

3. Hospital visits to neighbors not members of my parish.

4. Responding to police/airport emergencies as chaplain or emergency-responder.

5. Helping high-school kids in the library at noon.

6. Fixing the church sprinklers and chating with passersby.

7. On ride-alongs with our local PD, emercency debriefings post-shooting/accidents/suicides.

8. Teaching a Bible Study class at the local Roman Catholic retreat center.

John Paul II. noted, 'The presence of a cheerful priest in clerics is a wonderful witness to the world."

And yes, having noted this to my colleagues, one responded, "But I'm not often cheerful and don't like the attention."

This isn't about us, is it? I think the wearing of clerics and being outside the walls of the parish count as some of the most important things our "corporation," read "corpus Christi," can do to further our evangelical witness in the world.


Pete (Resident 11th.-Century Mind) Garrison