Some truths about the life of clergy:

(whether we like them or not.)

1. Clergy are called by God but hired by a congregation & expected to please the latter.

(Whose judgment do we pay attention to?)

2. The humanity of clergy is honored in the abstract & condemned in practice.

(Of course clergy are humans like the rest of us, but they shouldn’t have faults.)

3. Clergy should never expect of members what members expect of the clergy.

(Don’t be so judgmental. Members are only humans.)

4. A good defense against listening to clergy admonitions is to discover their faults.

(“I see Rev. ? lost his/her temper at a meeting, Guess s/he’s) not so good at loving his enemies.)

5. When some clergy are caught in a scandal, the reputation of all clergy is tarnished.

(After reading about that sex scandal in (whatever city), it makes you wonder about those late night counseling sessions by our pastor.)

6. Clergy should never feel anger, greed, lust, envy, depression, fear, or doubt.

(There faith should make them better than that.)

7.    We expect clergy to offer grace to others but not expect it in return.

(S/he) made an error in judgment, let’s fire the pastor and start over)

8.    Members have diverse images of clergy but little understanding of the reality of ministry.

(Must be nice to only work one hour a week.  Though I wish our pastor wouldn’t have such long sermons.)

9. Like Elijah, we sometimes feel like a failure even when we are succeeding.

(Why must God have a different standard of measurement?)

10. Like Peter, we find it hard to forgive seventy times seven.

(If he is talking about forgiving the same person, 490 times feels a little extreme.)

Copy this and pass it out to members of the church and ask them to vote on which ones they think the majority of the congregation believes.

Then read: Read Clergy Tales—Tails

ASIN: B00OF9L59C

• ISBN-10: 1502525216
• ISBN-13: 978-1502525215

 

Kindle: $2.99

Print:    $11.99

 

 

SOME TRUTHS ABOUT THE LIFE OF CLERGY