Help support the vision of Woodland Hills Community Church!

Help support the vision of Woodland Hills Community Church!
For those of you who would like to support the vision & ministry of Woodland Hills Community Church (the faith community I serve that continues to encourage me to minister outside the box), please click on the link just above.

Wednesday, September 17

Today’s Readings: Psalm 5; Exodus 28:1-4, 30-38; Luke 18:9-14; Romans 16:1-16; Psalm 110

An important shift occurred in church culture between the years 1950 and 2000. That shift? The professionalization of ministry. Let me tell you how that shift impacted the spiritual life of our faith communities. Prior to 1950, churches expected that lay people would be directly involved in the ministry of the local church. If you needed someone to work with the youth group, for instance, a volunteer would step forward to work with the youth. If you needed someone to work with prisoners at the nearby jail, a volunteer would step forward to work with the prisoners. And if you needed someone to lead the choir, a volunteer would step forward to do just that. Once ministry became professionalized, however, those dynamics in our churches shifted dramatically. Today if you need someone to work with the youth in your church, you hire a youth director. If you need someone to visit prisoners in a nearby jail, you hire a chaplain. And if you need someone to direct a choir, you hire a choir director. So what are the results of this shift? Many! Discipleship, for instance, has suffered greatly as many lay people have come to expect others to do ministry for them. Another unintended shift has come in the way some “professional” ministers have come to be seen – even by themselves! Since they are professionals with lots of degrees to prove their qualification, some “professional” have come to see themselves like the Pharisee saw himself in today’s reading from Luke. They lift up prayers like the ones the Pharisee lifted up (i.e. “Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like the other people …”). As someone who came to ministry later in life, I’ve realized something important about what qualifies me for “professional” ministry. It’s not the degrees I’ve earned that qualify me for parish ministry. It’s not even the years of experienced I’ve accumulated in a variety of fields ranging from human services to politics. No, what qualifies me for parish ministry is my embrace of those seven little words the tax collector said in today’s readings: “God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13 from The Message). When I talk with others about working to subvert your ego and agenda, for instance, I know what that struggle is like – for I face it every day. When I talk with others about overcoming temptations and being our better selves, I know what that struggle is like – for I face those same temptations every day. And when I talk about the importance of confession and one’s need of forgiveness, I know how important those things are – for I am in need of generous helpings of both in my own life. In other words, the lines that others would set up in our world – including lines between clergy and lay people – don’t exist. For we are all one: one in need of mercy; one in need of grace. Til next time…

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