Posts

Pastor and Possible Friend: A Perspective of a Clergyperson and Clergy Spouse

The new president of Princeton Seminary wrote an article last December, titled “Pastor, not friend.”  In that article, he reflects on his relationship with a devoted elder of the parish who was shocked—and saddened—when Craig Barnes announced his leaving the parish.  He said “friends don’t treat each other like that.”  Craig responds, “He was right, […]

Love ’em, Leave ’em, and Know What to Say

Over my ten years of ordained work, I have discerned a call to intentional interim ministry, or as I sometimes put it, “love ‘em and leave ‘em.”  I take both halves of this formula – which sounds strangely like the storyline for an old-school country song – very seriously.  I am fully engaged with the […]

Diary of an Online Dater

Day 1 11:42PM Having procrastinated until the eleventh hour on this week’s sermon, the only thing that makes sense at this point, less than nine hours before said sermon will be preached, is to join an online dating site. Dating site X is selected, and I begin to fill out the form that will, with […]

A Spirituality of Exhaustion

by Lara Blackwood Pickrel This summer has been no different than any of the other summers experienced in the decade I’ve spent as a youth minister: campfire smoke, bug spray, a few thousand miles packed sardine-style inside rental vans, silly bands (this year both on the radio and on teenagers’ wrists), mandatory abuse reporting, saggy […]

Minister or Fraud?

by Lara Blackwood Pickrel (This article includes quotes from a blog by Julie Clawson that can be found at: Sojourners) Over the course of the past ten years, my cache of ministerial experience has changed in so many ways. I’ve served in four different ministry settings, learned how to navigate my denomination’s search and call […]