Baby Pastor School

This past week I was at the Institute for Congregational Ministry (aka Baby Pastor School). ICM is nicked named Baby Pastor School because it is a required continuing education conference for all pastors, associates in ministries and diaconal ministers in the Northeast in their first three years of ministry post ordination/commissioning/consecration. Yeah it is kinda confusing wording hence the name Baby Pastor School. But shhhh I'm not suppose to call it that.

The conference is and interesting experience because all the hundred or so participates gathered have in common is that they are new to their jobs. There are people from thriving suburban churches who are the second or even third pastor, people in rural communities dividing their time between two or three churches, people in struggling inner-city churches and some who are unique calls developing programs with a specific community. So it is really hard to make workshops and even keynote speakers be relevant to all those gathered.

This year the theme of the conference was "Embodying Hope for an Anxious World." In the midst of economic turmoil, earthquakes, foreclosed homes, high unemployment, sky high health care cost, etc, people are anxious but we as a church are a people of hope. So how in the midst of so much anxiety do we preach, distill, and embody hope?

The keynote speaker, Terry Leib, has many years of experiences as a social worker and counselor. Terry talked quite a bit about the idea of a God image. Basically everyone has an image of God, even non-believers. God could be a loving, grace-filled being; a hateful wrathful God who will turn on you in an instant for doing something wrong; a being who is far, far away and has no relationship with us on earth; or a caring parent-like being who you have a personal relationship with. These are just a few of the many, many God images that people have.

The idea is that we cannot impose our God image onto someone else. If their God image is one of hatefulness and we come with a God image of love, since one God image is so different from the other the new one will be rejected. Instead we must first ask what someone's God image is and get to know that image and work with that image. Often if a person's God image is a negative one, that effects many other aspects of their life. If their God image is one that is never able to be pleased, then they often work to constantly please others or have given up pleasing anyone because there is no use.

So what is your God image? How do you see God? What have been your experiences when someone with an different God image has tried to force their view of God onto you?

I also attended a few workshops at Baby Pastor School that I will talk about in the coming days, so be prepared. And in case you are looking for it, I do not have a sermon from yesterday, since I was gone all week I asked Jack Saarela the pastor of Lutheran Campus Ministries at Yale to preach. This worked out well considering I ended up being extremely sick on Saturday and Sunday morning







Yes I know the Vikings lost the NFC championship. Really the Saints did not win as much as the Vikings lost (5 turnovers!) and yet the Saints didn't win until the stupid NFL sudden death overtime.