This week my friend Derek's blog features an hilarious clergy want ad whose qualification list will resonate with both clergy and laypeople who have ever sat on a call committee. (Been there; done that.)
Derek's ad made me want to compose a church want ad for laity. Until I read through the Epistle lesson for tomorrow. Pretty much sums it up, don't you think?
5 comments:
I think one of the problems is that many of us who feel "called" in some way forget that you can be called as simply a layperson, too.
Well, I think that's my calling. I'm just a pew-sitter, nothing more - and maybe less! At this point I really don't want to be anything more.
If it weren't for those of us in the pew...well, those clerical types would look pretty silly, standing there talking amongst themselves.;-)
Guiding Principle #4 from Kelly Fryer and Cross of Glory Lutheran Church:
Everybody Has Something to Offer
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Cor 12.7
There is no other Word of God than that which is given all Christians to proclaim. Martin Luther, Pagan Servitude of the Church
Be responsible for your play on the field. Cal Ripkin Jr., The Only Way I Know
(I have to admit that in my heart of heart I would really, really like to do that consecration thing just once, though.
Do you think 7 years of preparation is worth it?
;-)
)
Well, if Christianity devolves, as some suggest it will, and we're all back to celebrating the Eucharist around the kitchen table, you might get your wish.;-)
Theoretically, if/when I graduate from my program I can get a dispensation from our bishop to celebrate the Eucharist on a Sunday-by-Sunday basis, in the absence of ordained clergy -- say if I wound up helping out a mission start-up church, or if our pastor retired and we were left pastorless for a time -- but as the different lay programs evolve within the ELCA, I think we're going to lose this privilege.
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