Advice for Seminarians and New Pastors
December 4th, 2009
Via Justin Taylor, I read a brief article by Tim Keller who answers a question he is frequently asked by seminarians and new pastors, “What kind of ministry situation would best help me learn how to be a pastor?” His answer might surprise you. It did not surprise me. When I was assigned to be a pastor to a small, rural congregation in Northeast Iowa it was the best experience I could have possible received. And this article will tell you why.
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Categories: pastoral ministry
Oh I would certainly agree. The smaller size of University Lutheran has enabled me to learn a lot of things as a solo pastor that I wouldn’t necessarily learn in a larger setting. That does bring to mind the question of the size of many of our churches in the first place. Is it a better model for us to try to have many Lutheran churches, all which would be considered “smaller” congregations instead of lusting after the megachurch down the road? (My bias is clearly tilting to that). Also, I think it’s important to point out that the “small church” doesn’t necessarily need to be a country church – right?
McCain response: No, you must be in the middle of nowhere in a rural parish or else you will never possibly ever become a good pastor!