Someone once told me that a pastor is the only person who has two hundred bosses. That is...if you serve a church with two hundred members. The larger the church, the more 'bosses' you have. Of course I chuckled at that. It isn't nearly that bad, but one of the pressures of being of pastor is a sense that you have different sets of expectations that aren't always compatible, thus the idea of multiple bosses.

In the previous article I listed the expectations the Discipline has. They are varied and many. Yet, there are times when the district has their own set of expectations (that are usually backed up in the Discipline) as does the conference. There are also expectations coming from your church, your community, your family and even yourself. Over and beyond that we have a sense that God has expectations too. So, what is a pastor to do? Who trumps whom? Should we always meet expectations coming from our church, or should it always be the district/conference? Or maybe our family? Where do our own expectations formed in prayer, silence and spiritual practices come into play?

Okay. I'll admit it. I'm a pastor. It is what I do. It is who I am. I can't get away from it. Every Monday morning I get up and I start the week doing the work of a pastor. I know I'm not alone. There are a lot of pastors out there. Perhaps you are one...or know one. But what does it mean to be a pastor? What is our work really about? How do we know when we are doing the work of a pastor? How do we know if we are doing the work of the pastor?

The Book of Discipline has some things to say about pastoral work. Even though pastors are ordained to Word, Sacrament, Order and Service there are many things that potentially includes. Here is what 2004 Book of Discipline says (I've condensed some of this so it isn't 'word for word' but it does include all of the responsibilities listed in paragraph 340):

It was the last goodbye. The only thing was, I didn’t know it at the time. My father seemed like he was feeling better. It had been a week since we learned the news that he had cancer. Before that, he simply wasn’t feeling right. After a couple of weeks of feeling bad he decided to go to the hospital. There he received medical attention and started feeling better.

Then there was the surgery. They needed to remove fluid buildup. After that, he said he felt much better. In fact, he wanted to go back home, but not eating much in the previous three weeks left him weak. This meant he would go to a nursing home/rehab facility until he could get his strength back.

When I saw him he was in good spirits. He talked about going home on Friday, but since he wasn’t able to get in to see the oncologist the trip home would have to wait. They needed to hear from the doctor before they would release him from rehabilitation.

My time in Forsyth was mostly spent sitting in his room talking with him, well, actually he did most of the talking, but I sat and listened. I realized that was the best thing I could do at the time. I heard stories that I knew and a few that I didn’t.

It was Wednesday when I saw him last. We had made a trip to the doctor’s office to see his surgery doctor. It was there dad learned that he would be staying in the rehab center a bit longer. He took the news in stride. He wanted to go home, but he knew that he would have to wait. He said it was fine.

My daughter really like Superchic[k]. We went to the Prolife Music Festival in Warsaw, Indiana. Here is the lead singer signing an autograph for my daughter while holding her dog!

I've decided that since this is my 'personal' blog, I will probably start posting some posts in the "Life" and "Family" categories. I've been resistant to do this, but decided that I will try it for a while. Some of the more theological posts I may cross-post to UMSource.net and/or Missional Methodist Movement websites.