c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ When pastors flock to Market Square Arena in Indianapolis for an upcoming regional conference hosted by Promise Keepers, laity will be in two adjacent rooms praying for them.

Prayers will be numerous, for the March 12 event is likely to draw a crowd. If the turnout of some 4,000 pastors for a similar event in Charlotte, N.C., is any guide, the Christian men’s movement will have been wise to rent a basketball arena.

The prayer vigil being organized by local laity has one purpose:”Pray that God would renew the pastors’ hearts and to use them to revive His Church and to bring unity to His Body!” There’s no telling, of course, what people will pray for. The antagonism between clergy and laity is deep, rooted in centuries of mistrust. Even when trust is high, the relationship between clergy and laity is so complex words like”pastor”(one who tends a flock) don’t begin to describe the role.

Having been on both sides of the altar rail, I would offer these prayers for pastors who come seeking spiritual sustenance and renewed vocation:

_ I pray you will feel free to preach the gospel. It is a hard word. It was rejected by the religious establishment of Jesus’ day and is no less offensive today. Jesus preached a radical departure from the religious norms of his day _”let the dead bury the dead”_ norms modern believers tend to keep recreating as they search for order, control and a faith valuing prosperity. “We are the Pharisees,”says a Presbyterian preacher in my city who serves a white, middle-class congregation. What, he asks, does”good news to the poor”mean to those who aren’t poor?

_ I pray you will be strong in the face of rejection. Congregations invite you to nourish members’ souls, but the ultimate words of nourishment _”the kingdom of God is near!”_ rarely win much favor. Favor goes to those who soothe and please, not to those who send the rich away empty.

It is estimated 300 pastors are fired every week in Protestant America. Some of that is over misconduct and incompetence. Most involves phrases like”mismatch”and”didn’t fit in.”At the very least, be fired for the right reasons.

_ I pray you will let go of career aspirations. Every pastor I know started out wanting to be a bishop or pastor of a large congregation. Studies show the price of career success in ministry is high: exhaustion, stress at home, poor health, alienated children, and compromise with the ideals that stirred you in the first place. That cost isn’t from God.

_ I pray you will keep denomination and tradition in perspective. Jesus didn’t die so Roman Catholics could lord it over Methodists, or Baptists over Episcopalians. Jesus gave his followers living bread, not doctrinal perfection. Be a searcher, not a dispenser of institutional answers.

_ I pray you won’t believe what people say about you. If they say,”Nice sermon, Pastor,”know they didn’t hear you. If they criticize you, know some criticism is warranted, but that many people use clergy as a projection screen for their own self-loathing. Just as those in therapy tend to fall in love with their therapists, laity tend both to idealize their clergy and to see in them that which they reject in themselves.

_ I pray that you will see yourself as a partner in ministry, not a provider of ministry. Taken together, the baptized have more gifts for ministry than you do. Insist they use them. If you are gifted as a teacher, then teach, and let the laity provide pastoral care. Don’t get hooked in the role of”club manager,”as one lay person (himself a country club manager) put it. If a member says, in effect, that the greens need work, hand him a rake.

Finally, I pray you will go to those rooms next door where laity are praying for you and invite them to join you. The wall between clergy and laity isn’t healthy for either. Orders of ministry were created because believers were squabbling. We mustn’t enshrine those squabbles as divine purpose.

DEA END EHRICH