The Paper Pastor

[fredtgreco]

I totally agree! What many parishoners don't know is that your pastor is actually thinking about you when writing/delivering his sermon. He takes what he knows about you and your situation and your prayers and your family and your community and you struggles and they shape the message. Maybe his messages are not works of art but are works of love directly for you.

Absolutely. One of the most difficult and time consuming tasks of sermon preparation is the illustration and application phase. I work hard to come up with illustrations that are relevant and understandable by the congregation (which in Tchula meant farming illustrations that I would never use in suburban Houston) and applications that deal with pastoral issues. Adams was right when he said preaching is also counseling from the pulpit.

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

I've been mulling this over for a few days now...

And, I for one can testify that no paper pastor has ever helped me install a new water heater late at night so my family could have hot showers in the morning. And no paper pastor has ever invited me to lunch just to fellowship and to see if there were any needs in my life. Nor has one ever driven almost an hour to pick me up when my car broke down out of town. And it definitely wasn't a paper pastor who drove two hours to attend the funeral of my niece just to be an added comfort to me and my family. I could go on and on....

A little perspective on life helps us see that the paper pastor can keep his distant, yet good and useful, place while the flesh and blood pastors do the real everyday work that preaches louder than words. I'll take the man who lives the gospel in my presence daily. He's my pastor. That other guy on the mp3 is just a supplement, at best.