Pastor

children who will hang from ropes. The nauseating, stale smell of the deceased raped my nose; not knowing if that smell or guilt desired me to vomit. They did not tell the lie I wished them. A pastor who pleads a Christian to lie? Ironic for only the Devil persuades people to lie. A pastor for the Devil? No… A pastor preaching to purge his own guilt. The piercing sound of a snapping neck cut through the air; flinching hurt my soul. They suffered from my indictments. I clenched the reins of my…

looking at the subject of “Parish Planning.” In this section of the book, Lundholm-Eades explores how good parish planning is structured around communio (i.e. communion) and missio (i.e. mission). When communio and missio come together in a parish, the pastor and the parishioners are better enabled to read “the signs of the times, deciding what is important at this time, when to do what for how long, and how to know when progress is being made.” A parish that is in sync both in its mission and…

Speaking with Yellow Creek Mennonite Church’s Senior Pastor, Wes Bontreger is always a pleasure. He is consistently kind and opens his conversations with a smile and a plethora of jokes or stories that put at ease anyone in his presence. Meeting him at The Electric Brew in Goshen just over a week ago, our conversation progressed similar to its normal fashion, albeit with a slightly mor somber tone. Bontreger had just finished several days of viewing and funeral officiating, and when asked his…

An Essay on Ministry An Understanding of Christian Ministry I will never forget my final interview for a youth pastor position at a small church in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I had survived the gauntlet of interviews with the pastoral staff, but in this concluding examination, I would face the elders of the church so that they might probe into my thinking and life to determine my fitness for the position. The meeting started with prayer and platitudes, but then began with a bang when an older…

The influences of my work and goals at Colorado Christian University is first and for most the Lord Jesus by the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. A factor in which helped me think of this opportunity was Pastor Ricky who himself is not only a pastor he wears many hats a dad, works a job, is about to start a bus ministry, and He is a student at a different online university. See back in 2001 I had just Graduated High School from a Christian high school in Anchorage, Alaska. So my church at the…

It can be difficult as a Christian to attend a non-Christian university as the culture surrounding university life can contradict Christian values. The culture can be heavily revolved around partying, gossiping, and sex before marriage which are values Christians don’t usually associate with. However, when surrounded by it, it becomes hard to remain close to their values due to the desire to fit in. Therefore, it is important to find a Christian group where they can meet people with the same…

sacraments administered (Kolb 42). There is, however, a problematic position Lutherans hold regarding the church that requires refutation. This problem relates to church organization. Lutheranism, like most of its fellow evangelical sects, uses a pastor system (Jacobs…

Along time in the 1600's there was a little town called Salem and in that town they were all about religion, and of course there was a pastor. W hen you think of pastors you think that they would be a good person, noble and characteristic's like that, Well this pastor from this town was slightly different then your usual stereotype. He was paranoid, conceited ,and very persistent. Paris is very co ncieted.he just thinks that he deserves more than he gets for example on pg. 152 in the play…

I was born in a Christian family, but I was a bad kid when I was in preschool until fourth grade. I used to steal toys from other kids, and punching other kids my age. I kept doing this things over and over again and parents complaining to Senior Pastor that I was making big trouble, parents telling their children that I was a bad kid. In school I was a troublemaker, I would get bad grades, conferences, and reports about my behavior and would not have that much friends. The parents at my church…

Personal Theology: A Garden of Community Lucy Atkinson Rose’s idea of the sermonic moment continues to strike me as a new and powerful method of developing relationships through sermons. Atkinson Rose proposes the following: “One form of preaching aims to gather the community of faith around the Word where the central conversations of the people of God are fostered and refocused week after week.” In suggesting that we rethink sermons as a shared experience of Truth, rather than truth from the…