Mary Knurek reminded me this weekend that my blog was due. Getting the chance to pontificate is a wonderful shot in the ego, but it carries with it the burden of a deadline. Gail Seeram also asked for my evaluation of Pastor Nathan, for about the 3rd time. We’re on the church council and councils do such things. I generally shy away from written evaluations of leaders, though. They’re not engaged in repetitive tasks, so the critique and correction model really doesn’t apply. But I suddenly realized that I could kill two birds with one stone and half my workload. So this month’s blog is my evaluation of Nathan. I love being clever.
_________
Nathan has a Pastoral heart. It oozes out his pores. He loves this congregation, and he embraces us with his affection before he even opens his mouth. He is delighted to see us each and every week. He also has an uncanny sense of which battles to fight and when to let mercy have the better part of judgment. In short, he has a barrel full of emotional intelligence.
He knows where the end zone is, and he’s kept this congregation from running itself out of bounds over issues that are not central to the mission – getting to that end zone. Consequently, St. Stephen is cohesive and growing, while most mainstream churches are shrinking and splitting. I’d say that makes him a consummate political leader.
He’s actually Biblically and philosophically literate; surprisingly well-read for someone with no snow on the roof. And I understand that a great and powerful wizard is granting him a diploma that proves that he, like the scarecrow, obviously has a brain. I think that qualifies him as a scholar and theologian. Congratulations, Doc.
Business leaders and owners seek his opinion on the operation of their firms. They accept him as a peer and are warmed by the camaraderie they share. That, my friends, is an impressive feat. And despite his busy schedule, he actually shows up at ball practice and concerts and performances. His kids rush toward him, not away. And his wife still welcomes his embrace. All in all, I’d say he’s pretty well balanced.
And here’s the one I like the best - 73% of his sermons have a pin-drop moment; that instant where no one breathes or moves as the previous point strikes home. I’d say that makes him a consummate performer as well.
There are no gaping wounds that bleed pathos where sunshine belongs. No baggage that trips him up or gets in the way of his taking care of my wounds and baggage. I go out of my way to say “you gotta meet this guy!” instead of mumbling “he’s actually ok once he get to know him.”
So how do I put a number on him?
• Compared to Moses, Elijah and the Apostle Paul, I give him an 85%. It’s all good, he just hasn’t transcended on a cloud or anything truly impressive yet.
• Compared to the rest of the ELCA clergy, though, I’d give him a 97%. He’s the complete package, but I just wanted to leave him a little room for improvement and growth or he’d get antsy.
We got a great deal on a Cadillac, folks. He’s clearly above the norm. That’s cause for us to celebrate the hard work of the call committee, the hand of the Holy Spirit and plain old dumb luck. We found him in Nebraska, after all --- preaching to a corn stalk. Hallelujah, and again I say --- hallelujah.
Ok, ok, ok. Calm down. Cause I got bad news too. This is also cause for us to mourn the ill fortune of all those other congregations who are served by lesser folks. How sad and painful for them.
And I’d like to ask one simple question ---
---- “WHY IS THAT?”
The Nathans of the world ought to be the norm, not the exception.
• Every pastor ought to be well balanced, emotionally intelligent, theologically versed and gifted with the tools of the trade. Every one of them.
• No pastor should be unable to minister because of the massiveness of his own weaknesses and shortcomings. They simply should not be in a pulpit. They are God’s precious children, just as we all are. They just need to sit in the pews.
God’s work is serious work and should be handled by the best and brightest among us.
So why is that not the case?
And what are we going to do about it?
We need to recruit better, train better, weed better, reward better, pamper better and demand more.
Where can we impact that process?
This ought to be a burning issue for us, because we’re going to dive back into that ELCA talent pool one of these days. Nathan will not live forever. Or maybe he will, but just in a different venue. Either way, I don’t want to rely on hard work and dumb luck finding us another winner. I’d like the talent pool so well stocked that finding the next winner is easy. Real easy.
I think we’ve got work to do.
Joe Anderson
3/24/2011
_________
Nathan has a Pastoral heart. It oozes out his pores. He loves this congregation, and he embraces us with his affection before he even opens his mouth. He is delighted to see us each and every week. He also has an uncanny sense of which battles to fight and when to let mercy have the better part of judgment. In short, he has a barrel full of emotional intelligence.
He knows where the end zone is, and he’s kept this congregation from running itself out of bounds over issues that are not central to the mission – getting to that end zone. Consequently, St. Stephen is cohesive and growing, while most mainstream churches are shrinking and splitting. I’d say that makes him a consummate political leader.
He’s actually Biblically and philosophically literate; surprisingly well-read for someone with no snow on the roof. And I understand that a great and powerful wizard is granting him a diploma that proves that he, like the scarecrow, obviously has a brain. I think that qualifies him as a scholar and theologian. Congratulations, Doc.
Business leaders and owners seek his opinion on the operation of their firms. They accept him as a peer and are warmed by the camaraderie they share. That, my friends, is an impressive feat. And despite his busy schedule, he actually shows up at ball practice and concerts and performances. His kids rush toward him, not away. And his wife still welcomes his embrace. All in all, I’d say he’s pretty well balanced.
And here’s the one I like the best - 73% of his sermons have a pin-drop moment; that instant where no one breathes or moves as the previous point strikes home. I’d say that makes him a consummate performer as well.
There are no gaping wounds that bleed pathos where sunshine belongs. No baggage that trips him up or gets in the way of his taking care of my wounds and baggage. I go out of my way to say “you gotta meet this guy!” instead of mumbling “he’s actually ok once he get to know him.”
So how do I put a number on him?
• Compared to Moses, Elijah and the Apostle Paul, I give him an 85%. It’s all good, he just hasn’t transcended on a cloud or anything truly impressive yet.
• Compared to the rest of the ELCA clergy, though, I’d give him a 97%. He’s the complete package, but I just wanted to leave him a little room for improvement and growth or he’d get antsy.
We got a great deal on a Cadillac, folks. He’s clearly above the norm. That’s cause for us to celebrate the hard work of the call committee, the hand of the Holy Spirit and plain old dumb luck. We found him in Nebraska, after all --- preaching to a corn stalk. Hallelujah, and again I say --- hallelujah.
Ok, ok, ok. Calm down. Cause I got bad news too. This is also cause for us to mourn the ill fortune of all those other congregations who are served by lesser folks. How sad and painful for them.
And I’d like to ask one simple question ---
---- “WHY IS THAT?”
The Nathans of the world ought to be the norm, not the exception.
• Every pastor ought to be well balanced, emotionally intelligent, theologically versed and gifted with the tools of the trade. Every one of them.
• No pastor should be unable to minister because of the massiveness of his own weaknesses and shortcomings. They simply should not be in a pulpit. They are God’s precious children, just as we all are. They just need to sit in the pews.
God’s work is serious work and should be handled by the best and brightest among us.
So why is that not the case?
And what are we going to do about it?
We need to recruit better, train better, weed better, reward better, pamper better and demand more.
Where can we impact that process?
This ought to be a burning issue for us, because we’re going to dive back into that ELCA talent pool one of these days. Nathan will not live forever. Or maybe he will, but just in a different venue. Either way, I don’t want to rely on hard work and dumb luck finding us another winner. I’d like the talent pool so well stocked that finding the next winner is easy. Real easy.
I think we’ve got work to do.
Joe Anderson
3/24/2011
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1 comment:
WOW, Joe,
When I saw the topic, I got a lettle nervous; however, you said everything I experience. If it's true that organizations take on the personalities of their leaders, then I say to Pastor Nathan - lead on!
Diane Bechtold
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