When a pastor arrives at a congregation and begins to exercise ministry, it is a little like moving from dating to marriage. When you are dating, you can anticipate a meeting, prepare for it, and present yourself in the most desirable light. Once you are married, you are on stage almost all the time. You move from candlelight meals to the laundry and how you clean up after yourself before you leave for work. There is nothing wrong or even deceitful about presenting yourself in the best light possible, but sometimes the adjustment to being seen almost all the time is difficult.The same is true for a pastor beginning a new pastorate. Now we are fully present, warts and all. The same is true of the congregation. The pastoral nominating committee wants to present the congregation in the best light possible, and they may even speak of their own desires for the congregation’s future. However, the whole congregation is larger and more diverse than just those represented on the PNC. Both the new pastor and the whole congregation are asked to make adjustments to the reality of who they are in relationship to each other.
While you don’t control how the congregation responds, as the pastor, you can have a measure of control over how you present yourself. It is worth being intentional about what the congregation experiences as they interact with their new pastor. Think about that first six months to a year. What do you want them to see? What is the image of their pastor that you would hope that they would form?
Think about that now, and in my next blog, I will make some more detailed suggestions for our consideration.
