Wednesday, June 4, 2014

A Friend in Need

One of the nice things for me about The Mainline project while I was in the middle of it was getting to visit churches of many different denominations and get to know, both as member, guest, or visitor many priests, ministers, and pastors.  As such, I saw not only how they were, in many different ways, they were serving their congregations, proclaiming the Gospel, and helping people in their communities and around the world.  They did not come from the same denominational, theological, or doctrinal positions (and I dare say that many of them would have disagreed with each other on many of those points had I ever gathered them all together to talk about such things), but the experience reminded me often of C.S. Lewis' take in Mere Christianity, making the process both spiritually and intellectually satisfying more often than not.

That being said, there was and is, tension for some of my pastoral friends within their denominations because of their stances on theology and doctrine.  This is most pronounced within the Old Mainline of course, as pastors who might adhere to conservative (or orthodox) positions were at odds with denominational leaders who were more liberal in their beliefs (even if, officially, the denomination itself, at least officially, might agree with the pastor).  As a result, these pastors face the prospect of if not being run out of their denominations, then never advancing their pastoral careers very far--indeed, of being told that the small congregation they've been appointed to is the only congregation that they'll ever be appointed to.

Now, as someone who grew up in a small, non-denominational church, such things are still difficult (at times) to wrap my head around.  And even though I am now a member of a denomination, it is still hard to fathom that good pastors, who have been called to the ministry, are being forced out of the pulpit--not because they are incompetent, not because they are not good at their job, not because they no longer believe in God or in Christ's resurrection--but because they have run afoul of a bureaucracy that would rather advance its own agenda rather than the Gospel of Christ.

Alas, it doesn't end there.  It might be easy to say "well, then they should leave that denomination for another."  But alas, it isn't that easy.  Not only might their be employee benefit (pension, housing etc) considerations, but there is also the problematic nature of American denominationalism to consider.  If you were, say, a Presbyterian or a Methodist who faced such a dilemma, you may indeed find it difficult to "switch denominations" (pastors, in other words, face the exact opposite problem of people in the pews when it comes to religious consumerism in the United States).  Additionally, because they were part of a denomination, they may find pastoral doors closed to them in the nondenominational world (because even without rigid hierarchies, such churches often discriminate in hiring against those coming out of say the Old Mainline).

What then should we say to pastoral friends who find themselves in such a position?  Should we tell them to stand fast and pray for renewal within their denomination?  Should we tell them to make their stories known--to bring lay and grassroots pressure on their denomination?  Should we hope for schism within denominations--the further splintering of both American and Global Christendom?  Should we tell them to keep trying to find a new job?  Should we go so far as to say that perhaps they should leave the ministry altogether?

There are no easy answers to those questions I'm afraid.  And for that, I lament for my pastoral friends who find themselves in such a position--caught between the Cross of Christ and some in the hierarchy of the Body of Christ--and lift them up in prayer and hope that Christians can eventually find a way to be one.

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