A Pastor's Role

Since November of 2009, I have been serving on the Fond du Lac Salvation Army Board of Advisors. I was looking for ways to become part of the community and see how I could help out. This was a good way to start:

1. I have had the opportunity to get to know the staff of the Salvation Army and have gotten to know the community services that they provide.
2. It has opened opportunities for ways that we can help out the Salvation Army in their projects.
3. I have met some people on the Advisory Board that work in various areas of the community.

We meet once a month as a committee to vote on new ventures and new opportunities for the Salvation Army. Having only been to a few of the meetings, I have kept relatively quiet. I am trying to take it all in and learn how things work.

After five meetings, I finally felt like I had the opportunity to speak. We were in the middle of a discussion when I questioned the intent of a proposed course of action. I suppose you could say I proposed a solution that might not work to our advantage, but would be the most fair. I knew not everyone agreed, and that was understandable. One person commented, "This is why we have a pastor on the committee."

As I reflect on this, I had two thoughts:

1. Does it need to take a pastor to think of the option that takes "the high road" or may work about better for all involved? Perhaps. But, shouldn't we all be thinking in ways that benefit everyone?
2. A pastor should act like a pastor at all times, in and out of the office, in and out of the church, everywhere in the community. A pastor's ministry is everywhere. It may be focused on his or her congregation, but ministry is to all people.

As Methodists, we are all called to ministry....to everyone. This was an interesting situation where a ministry moment came about and I answered God's call. Others thought about the situation in a different light. God will provide these opportunities, hopefully I will be willing to set up in ministry!