For me, it is always a challenge to keep something like a blog up to date. I suppose once one has some readership, one is obligated to at least make the effort to update it regularly. I will try to do better with the upkeep of this blog.
Last week, I was in the great city of Milwaukee for my denomination/association's annual meeting. (My association is the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches). It was great fun to be with fellow pastors and to see old friends. My denomination (there are many who hate it being called that) is really an association of congregational churches who consider themselves, piously and with great pride, "the continuing congregationalists". The title is probably correct, given how much the UCC sacrificed in terms of congregational church governance when they formed in the 1950s. The NACCC are the churches that didn't go with that merger. Like other groups who splintered and split (the Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, etc. etc. ad infinitum), we have no association with the other congregational bodies in the nation, which is ashame and a testament to the very human quality of churches in general. Nonetheless, I take pride in my Congregational history and in the history of my denomination.
Normally, we consider pride to be the root of all evil, but I think it has a lot to do with priorities. If we know the source of that which we take pride in, we can avoid the pitfalls of self-aggrandizement that occurs when we claim the thing we take pride in for ourselves. As a monotheist and a Christian, the source of all which I take pride in ideally is centrally located in God and Jesus Christ. So when I say I am very proud of Mount Republic Chapel of Peace, that is what I mean to say. The reason I am proud of the church I pastor is because while I was in Milwaukee, the congregation ran the service. One person even said, "I guess we don't need a guest pastor to come in every time the pastor leaves on a trip. We can do this ourselves." That is exactly right.
In the corporate world, since I always worked in lowly customer service positions, I was very aware that there is no position in the company that can't be done by someone else. In church, it is a little different. God uses those things that make us uniquely individuals to do God's work in the world, so it can be likely that there are things to be done that no other person can do. Likewise, every church is unique and unusual and cannot be replaced. And so when the congregation steps up to lead services when the pastor is gone, it is a time to rejoice and be proud that the unique individuals that make up a church can make the time of worship a unique experience for everyone present.
Of course, if I say that it means the pastor is always replaceable (s/he is, in many ways) because the congregation can do the service without his/her presence, it would mean a lot of pastors would lose their work. But it brings up an important point - what is the purpose of a pastor? If the congregation can do the service on their own (most can), and the services provided by the church can be done by leaders in the congregation (there are many), then why have a clergy? Some groups don't - the Quakers, many Anabaptists, the Amish, some emergent/house movement churches. Most do, however, and that is a good and holy thing. I won't answer the question, but I think it is valuable for a congregation to reflect why they have a pastor and what the pastor does that they either cannot or will not do for themselves.
In the meantime, as a pastor, I feel blessed to have a congregation that is willing to step up and lead worship for each other. And that seems worthy of a certain amount of God-centered pride.
Peace to all!
Pastor Seth
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