Truth in Advertising
As I was preparing for last Sunday's sermon, I wondered what sort of classified ad the believers at Rome might have written, if they had been in a pastoral search at the latter part of the 1st century, CE. Here's were my overactive imagination took me:
The fast-growing church at Rome seeks pastor-teacher to assist us in faithfully proclaiming the Good News of God. We are a house church, worshiping in several secret locations throughout town, due in part to the ongoing efforts of the authorities to shut us down and shut us up. Our commitment to the kingdom of God has put us on the Empire's "subversives list". Our last three pastors were jailed and beaten with some frequency. One was executed.
Many of us have lost our jobs and some of us have been disowned by our families because we continue to follow this way of Jesus. We have some ongoing conflict within our church as well -- some of us are Jews and others of us are Gentiles. We have different world views, different customs, different dietary restrictions, different histories and frankly, we are working really hard to keep our ethnic prejudices from tearing us apart.
When parents share the stories of Jesus with their children, we call that Christian Education. When fellow believers attend to the needs of one another we call that Pastoral Care. When we share our story of how being a follower of Jesus impacts our lives with family members, friends and neighbors, we call that Evangelism. When we gather each week and pray together, listen to the stories of Jesus together, receive teaching together and share the sacred meal of bread and wine together, we call that Worship.
The successful candidate for pastor-teacher will have another vocation with which to earn an income -- tentmakers have done well here in the past. While we will do our best to find a spare room in a disciples' home, we can't guarantee lodging. Retirement is not possible, but relocation may be necessary, depending on the authorities. Come grow with us!
As I was preparing for last Sunday's sermon, I wondered what sort of classified ad the believers at Rome might have written, if they had been in a pastoral search at the latter part of the 1st century, CE. Here's were my overactive imagination took me:
The fast-growing church at Rome seeks pastor-teacher to assist us in faithfully proclaiming the Good News of God. We are a house church, worshiping in several secret locations throughout town, due in part to the ongoing efforts of the authorities to shut us down and shut us up. Our commitment to the kingdom of God has put us on the Empire's "subversives list". Our last three pastors were jailed and beaten with some frequency. One was executed.
Many of us have lost our jobs and some of us have been disowned by our families because we continue to follow this way of Jesus. We have some ongoing conflict within our church as well -- some of us are Jews and others of us are Gentiles. We have different world views, different customs, different dietary restrictions, different histories and frankly, we are working really hard to keep our ethnic prejudices from tearing us apart.
When parents share the stories of Jesus with their children, we call that Christian Education. When fellow believers attend to the needs of one another we call that Pastoral Care. When we share our story of how being a follower of Jesus impacts our lives with family members, friends and neighbors, we call that Evangelism. When we gather each week and pray together, listen to the stories of Jesus together, receive teaching together and share the sacred meal of bread and wine together, we call that Worship.
The successful candidate for pastor-teacher will have another vocation with which to earn an income -- tentmakers have done well here in the past. While we will do our best to find a spare room in a disciples' home, we can't guarantee lodging. Retirement is not possible, but relocation may be necessary, depending on the authorities. Come grow with us!
posted by FrGaryB | 8:25 AM
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