This month we lead off we a couple of excellent pieces (one from Presbyterian New Service, one from United Methodist News Service) both getting at the subject of our passion for ministry: how to feed and sustain what becomes elusive for many pastors of city churches. On the parachurch side, the passion that Larry James has found for his work at Central Dallas Ministries is also highlighted. While these are examples, not norms; you’ll find something that can apply in your own ministry.

CityVoices continues to offer "The Promised Land," by Nicholas Lemann, and “Effective Small Churches in the 21st Century,” by Carl Dudley (our interviewee for next month’s newsletter). In addition, we have added David Hilfiger’s fine book, “Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen,” to our book offerings. Hilfiger, a medical doctor in Washington, DC, founder of Joseph’s House and author of two previous books, offers a surprising history of the inner city and an analysis of the social forces that have created ghettos. This well-thought out book is available from CityVoices for only $10.

God’s grace and peace today,
Roger Johnson, Editor – CityVoices

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Stress and Distress: Pastors too Often Forget to Minister to Themselves

Presbyterian New Service, October, 27, 2000

On a blank page of newsprint, the Rev. Howard Rice kept scrawling down the roles that ministers are expected to play within congregations. He honed it down to eight: evangelist, sacramental-person, preacher, teacher, counselor, agent of social change, manager, and in Rice's words, "pointer to God."

All important. But overwhelming. "We just keep adding and adding and adding and adding ... and we never subtract," Rice said, prompting heads to bob in agreement around the conference room at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Rice was the kick-off lecturer in a six-part series of reflections called "Come to the Well: Sabbath Keeping for Church Leaders."

All eight sounded right to the Rev. Cynthia Jennison, of Petersburg, Indiana, who noted that, even in her congregation of about 50 members, a minister needs a wide variety of talents: "There are 10 different roles. And you're expected to be able to do all of those. Do 'em well. Do 'em all at once."

To handle the stress, Rice, who has pastored congregations and served as chaplain at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and now spends his time writing and lecturing about spirituality, reckons that ministers need to take better spiritual care of themselves. So he and about 40 other church leaders spent two days together, reflecting on their calls to ministry and the traditional disciplines the church recommends for spiritual growth.

"I don't know any other way," Rice said in an interview with the Presbyterian News Service, describing today's church as an institution that has succumbed to the "critical spirit" of the culture and opted for a more corporate way of working -- to the detriment of ministers who find it impossible to do everything and keep everyone happy.

"That's what's happening," he said, "and (spiritual practice) is the only way I know to get the inner strength to handle what needs to be handled." He presented a common-sense list of 10 recommendations:

1. Keep a journal. It will help you focus on your spiritual life. Use it to tell God what's in your heart and to map your emotional ups and downs. You may see patterns emerging seasonally or in step with the church calendar.

2. A minister's personal calendar, Rice said, is one of the first things that needs to be brought under control. One must set aside time on a monthly basis for prayer and retreat time. "If you don't do that," he warned, "your calendar will be shaped by everything except your own soul."

3. Take time for Sabbath-play. That's personal time, for hobbies and spouses and children. Take a day that runs counter to the hectic rhythm of the rest of the week. To make his point, Rice asked the pastors in the room how they spent their
days off. Most of them said they almost never get a day off.

4. Prayer time is essential. "We need to find a prayer style that fits us, that is not only comfortable, but is what we want to do. There's no sense forcing ourselves into a manner of prayer that we'll just dread," Rice said. "It has to be nourishing time that we really cherish and want."

5. Find time for devotional reading -- what Rice called "soul reading." He doesn't promote the Bible for preachers, because it too often makes them think about texts for sermons, not about their own spiritual condition. Rice recommended
bite-size portions of the classics: St. John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence. "And make it do-able," he said. "Too often, we make grand plans -- so big that we never do it."

6. Go to worship in another tradition. Take in a Mass, or visit a synagogue. "Worship is hard to do when you're leading it," Rice said. "Clergy need to worship in a different tradition. The more different it is, the harder it is to (play the role of) the ‘resident critic.'"

7. It's essential that a minister take "retreat time" -- time to sit and pray, read the Bible or a devotional book, to look at the cross -- and to do it on a work day instead of using vacation time.

8. Another necessity, Rice said, is physical exercise.

9. For ministers, he said, hobbies aren't a luxury; they're activities that give ministers energy, rather than draining energy away. "(Hobbies) get us into a different space from the regular routine of work."

10. Break the isolation that is the bane of many ministers, using lectionary groups, periodic therapy, and most important, direct spiritual direction.

The Rev. Ann Haw, of Scottsburg, Indiana, sat across the room from Rice, stitching as she listened. "I came here partly because of the idea of a day away for a change," she said. "That's very, very important, and something clergy need to learn more about. People realize they're frustrated. But because we're clergy, we must look for spiritual answers to our frustration." Haw said, "Loneliness is a huge problem. Many clergy feel very much alone."

Loneliness came up more than once in the conversation: Who to talk to? Someone in the parish? Or is that dangerous? A presbytery executive? Or would a minister's woes re-emerge at an inopportune time in the Committee on Ministry? There were plenty of frustrations, too -- among them, being required to serve as the building's custodian, mediating petty conflicts, untangling staff issues, running seemingly useless Session meetings, having to be one's own secretary, and cleaning up the messes left by a clergy-predecessor.

"The stress for ministers is unrelieved. There's never a vacation from it," Rice said. "When Easter's over, you start getting ready for the next thing. The demand never lets up." Part of the problem, he said, is that most ministers end up being unable to say "No," adding more stress.

Searching for God's presence is what pulls people into a congregation, according to Rice, which is why he likes the term "pointer to God," to describe one of the more important roles clergy assume. It is a term he coined for the pastor as someone who points to the holy. "The pastor is the guide to the spiritual life," he said. "That is a central metaphor for ministry. It gets at the hunger of our culture, the reason why so many people leave the church, especially younger people. They don't see anything going on there.

"The church, it seems to me, can be a place where souls are nurtured, where peoples' ... hunger for God is met. That's what is needed if the church is going to be revitalized today. We don't need more meetings. We don't need more techniques. People will look to the church to meet their need for God or they will look elsewhere. And that is what they're doing, in droves."

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Pastors Focus on Rekindling Passion for Ministry

(Excerpted from United Methodist News Service, January 18, 2001)

Pastors shoulder so many demands and responsibilities that burnout and low morale are common problems, and often result in a loss of passion for ministry. Rekindling that passion was the focus of the Second Convocation for Pastors of African-American Churches, which drew nearly 450 clergy members seeking to reacquaint themselves with power, passion and preaching authority.

"As pastors are encouraged, they become God’s agents of encouragement for laity who can make churches that can change their communities," said the Rev. Vance Ross, chairman of the event’s design team. The denomination has about 37,000 congregations, including 2,500 that are predominantly black.

"God has gifted these people by way of their appointment and by God placing them in these positions, but it is also by God’s grace and through God’s power that we must remember that we are empowered to do this," said Ross, who is pastor of multiethnic First United Methodist Church in Hyattsville, Maryland. "We must have a vision that fuels us and be passion and vision-driven, spirit-led and mission-minded. We are authorized and anointed by God to do this work."

The primary purpose of preaching is to change lives and to get people to change their direction, repent and realize the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, said the Rev. Alfreda Wiggins, pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church in Baltimore. "Preaching, healing and deliverance is serious business," she said. "Preaching is the power of God unto salvation, and if we are serious about this business, then preaching ought to do more than revive the choir and make people feel good."

Pastoral ministry is a profession in which burnout and low morale are as common as the air we breathe, said the Rev. Carlyle F. Stewart III, pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Michigan. "It is difficult for some clergy to obtain and maintain a passion for ministry that will enable them to achieve a sense of wholeness and fulfillment in places they serve." He defined passion as boundless enthusiasm for service that sustains the individual through the highs and lows, the joys and disappointments of ministry.

"Passion is the unquenchable desire to serve God’s people with conviction and excellence in kingdom building," he said. "Passion is the ability to go from failure to failure, problem to problem without losing your enthusiasm and spiritual momentum. It is the capacity to serve God’s people excellently despite their sin."

The Rev. Benita Rollins, pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Warrensville, Ohio, echoed Stewart’s observations by using a balloon. Each person was given a shapeless balloon to note its flatness and lifelessness. She then told the people to blow a little air into their balloons and observe what happens. "Sometimes our ministry is like this balloon," Rollins said. "It is not growing and not really making a difference in the lives of people. It is either dying or just making do." Then she asked that the balloons be inflated. "Like the balloon, we need to be stretched so that we can bring balance and passion in our lives," she said. God wants pastors to let their passions go and be free, she said. "In the context of ministry, I contend that passion is the intense love and desire that flows out of an intimate relationship with God. Passion is not just doing, but it is about being."

The Rev. Zan Holmes, pastor of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, told the clergy that in order to be safe from burnout, they must keep refanning and rekindling the flames of their gifts for preaching and ministry. As he provided an address about the authority of preaching and of the pastor, he challenged his colleagues to participate in the process of developing their preaching potential.

In conclusion, pastors were told to keep a passion for ministry alive by keeping their hope and vision alive; preaching Christ and saving souls; developing a strong prayer and devotional life. Create a climate where failure is not fatal; associate with people who are joyful in the spirit and love of the Lord. Channel anger and disappointment into acts of healing and kindness.

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Parachurch Passion

(Excerpted from an article by Agnieszka Tennant, in Christianity Today, May 21, 2002. )

Larry James has keen understanding of the relationship between "fairness, equity, social justice, evangelism, the gospel, the kingdom of God." He speaks the words quickly, rhythmically, in a single breath, as if they were an inseparable phrase. Like the refrain of a song, the words return to his tongue again and again when he describes what effective parachurch ministry should look like. And as the leader of Central Dallas Ministries (CDM), one of the busiest community development organizations in the city, he seems to know what he's talking about.

After years in pastoral ministry, Larry James became executive director of CDM in 1994, when it functioned mainly as a food pantry. For weeks, he spent every workday interviewing the poor about their needs. But out of one awkward conversation came a new direction in ministry. One day he found himself unable to communicate with three Hispanic women. So he asked Josephina, a bilingual woman who had stopped by the office for assistance, "Can you help me?" She interpreted for him.

Later, as she headed for the door, she asked him, "Would you like me to help you tomorrow?"
The light went on in James's head: "Can you help me?" is the best question you can ask a person, he realized. After that, CDM staff started asking their needy clientele to volunteer in the ministry. Asking poor people for help made them focus on their dignity and resources, and not their poverty. The approach revolutionized the ministry.

CDM now has over 500 volunteers in its database, and over 90 percent of them first came to the ministry seeking help. The volunteers distribute up to 20,000 pounds of groceries per week. CDM employs a full-time doctor, a dentist, and four attorneys. Scores of professionals volunteer each week. Thanks to them, and to James's passionate presentations of the needs of Dallas's poor, CDM's operating budget grew from under $200,000 to $2.9 million in the last eight years. And Josephina, today nearing 70, sits at her own desk and interviews those seeking help from CDM.

Parachurch ministries are all over the map of the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex, but they do have a few things in common. For one, community development is big on their lists. This means the ministries' laborers view their work as more than a 9-to-5 job. Besides building or refurbishing houses, they move into the communities. They live among low-income families, befriend them, and take them to church.

According to evangelist John Perkins, the father of the Christian community development movement, these parachurch ministries thrive in Dallas in part because "some of the very wealthy Christians in the city caught the vision of doing something significant" with their money. "I'm not aware of any other city where the parachurch ministries are working so closely on so many different things and where the relational bridges between parachurch ministries and area churches and businesses are as strong as they are here," says Kathy Dudley, founder of the Dallas Leadership Foundation (DLF), which links local churches with parachurch groups.

When asked what he thinks of all this parachurch activity, James says it's commendable. But he also admits to feeling "frustrated and overwhelmed. We're doing a lot of good work in Dallas, but parachurch organizations cannot lift this load by themselves," he says.

By "this load," he means the social ailments of the poor. For example, the city's public schools are in disarray, and the public health-care system does not cover many of the people who need it. "Dallas is probably one of the most churched cities in the world," James says. "The people who set public policy and the people who vote are members of churches."

But there is little word from the city's many church members to inform the public policy decisions that could transform this community, he says. He wishes that more Christians in Dallas would begin to allow their "privatized version of the gospel" to engage with the larger community. Until that happens, ministries like CDM will have to depend on the help of individuals (whose $25, $50, and $100 donations constitute most of CDM's budget) and businesses to continue advancing "fairness, equity, social justice, evangelism, the gospel, the kingdom of God."

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Coming Events:

National Leadership Forum, 2003 Mission America Coalition Annual Meeting

October 5-8, 2003, sponsored by MissionAmerica, "The Gospel in the City: A National Leadership Forum," New York City, NY." To serve as a creative forum where individuals and leadership teams can be strengthened and resourced to serve and minister with city and urban ministries throughout the nation." The forum will assist leaders in their discovery of new resources and ministry models for sharing Christ in word and deed in city and urban areas, through shared experiences, interactive discussion, powerful teachers and on-site visits. Register online at: nationalleadershipforum@missionamerica.org or call (718)721-2626

Leading on the New Religious Frontier: Building Racially and Culturally Diverse Communities

October 8-10, sponsored by The Alban Institute, Location: Washington Retreat House, Washington, DC
If current demographic trends continue, experts predict that almost half of the population of our nation will be non-white by the year 2050. Astute leaders must confront old assumptions and rethink their ministries. As society looks to religious communities for help living with increasing diversity, border people—clergy and lay leaders who live and work in racially and culturally diverse settings—need a particular set of leadership skills in order to negotiate cultural boundaries on la frontera, and lead others to do the same. Register online at: http://www.alban.org/CourseDetails.asp?ID=1745 or call the Alban Institute at (800) 486-1318.

Archdiocese of Chicago – Catholic Festival of Faith

October 30 - November 2, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Location: Chicago’s Navy Pier.
This first Catholic Festival of Faith will bring together Catholics from across Chicagoland for a four-day celebration of Catholic faith, worship and ministries in the nation’s largest Archdiocese. The Catholic Festival of Faith will be an opportunity for people from all parishes, organizations, institutions, ministries, racial, ethnic and age groups to gather at one place and time to worship, learn, and celebrate both diversity and unity in one of the nation’s largest urban centers. Register online at: http://www.catholicfest.org/ or call the Archdiocese of Chicago at (312) 751-8385.

15th Annual CCDA Conference – "New Wineskins for our Changing Communities"

November 12-16, sponsored by the Christian Community Development Association, Location: New Orleans Marriott Hotel, New Orleans, LA. The 15th Annual CCDA Conference is shaping up to be one of the best ever. There will be over 100 workshops, networking opportunities where you will be able to meet some of the best community developers in the country, meet and speak with people from your region and network with programs that focus on issues that are close to your heart. Dr. John Perkins will lead each day in Bible study. Other challenging and informative speakers include: Dr. Leah Gaskin Fitchue, Dr. Tom Sine, Rev. Fred Luter, Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr, Dr. Glen Kehrein, Rev. A. Lincoln Washington, Dr. Wayne Gordon and Dr. A. Charles Ware. Register online at: http://www.ccda.org/ or call CCDA at (773) 762-0994.

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Thanks for Reading CityVoices!

Next month we interview Dr. Carl Dudley, author and professor who’s spend much of his career studying the small church. (Appeal to any of you city church pastors?) Look for fresh new insights on the challenges and gifts of small churches. We’ll also present several other resources related to the small city church.

In the meantime, contact CityVoices for the best in resources for city ministry. “Urban Injustice: How Ghettos Happen” by David Hilfiger, ($10), "The Promised Land," by Nicholas Lemann, ($12) and "Effective Small Churches in the 21st Century," by Carl Dudley, ($14) can all be purchased by calling CityVoices at (773) 477-8163. Also, look through the bookstore section of the CityVoices website (www.cityvoices.com) for a complete listing of our available resources.

Thank You!
Roger Johnson – Editor, CityVoices (Chicago)