Holy Shoehorn.
This one has been simmering in my spirit for a while.
Tomorrow is Easter. Tomorrow we celebrate the resurrection of our Christ. Tomorrow I will not be at the church I call home. Why? Because I do not fit there during the holydays. I'll be visiting an Anglican church with my darling wife and son.
There is this hunger within me that calls out for tradition, reverence and awe during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. I long for liturgy. I want to be reminded, and once again drawn into the sacred story. I want to hear the mystery of the Gospel (Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again).
So where is the shoe-horn? Well, it's not so much part of this Easter, as much as it is part of my life. I have been, and will be a worship pastor. But with many of the churches that I applied to recently, I felt as though the pastors saw the parts of me that fit their vision, and were either blind to my other strength and passions, or thought that I could be made to "forget them" while I worked with there. They just wanted to shoehorn my talent into their mold. But as someone who has had shoes that don't fit well, I know that forced fits rarely fit for long.
After my last experience, I will not lightly go into another worship pastorate. I long to return, but when I do, I want to return to that place that fits me well.
As Rich Mullins put it, I desire "Liturgy, Legacy, and a ragamuffin band." All I want is all the richness and depth of The Story, expressed in the current cultural vernacular (Lord, hear our prayer).
Tomorrow is Easter. Tomorrow we celebrate the resurrection of our Christ. Tomorrow I will not be at the church I call home. Why? Because I do not fit there during the holydays. I'll be visiting an Anglican church with my darling wife and son.
There is this hunger within me that calls out for tradition, reverence and awe during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. I long for liturgy. I want to be reminded, and once again drawn into the sacred story. I want to hear the mystery of the Gospel (Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again).
So where is the shoe-horn? Well, it's not so much part of this Easter, as much as it is part of my life. I have been, and will be a worship pastor. But with many of the churches that I applied to recently, I felt as though the pastors saw the parts of me that fit their vision, and were either blind to my other strength and passions, or thought that I could be made to "forget them" while I worked with there. They just wanted to shoehorn my talent into their mold. But as someone who has had shoes that don't fit well, I know that forced fits rarely fit for long.
After my last experience, I will not lightly go into another worship pastorate. I long to return, but when I do, I want to return to that place that fits me well.
As Rich Mullins put it, I desire "Liturgy, Legacy, and a ragamuffin band." All I want is all the richness and depth of The Story, expressed in the current cultural vernacular (Lord, hear our prayer).
Labels: flaberghasted, Rant, The Church, worship
posted by Timothy Putnam at 7:45 PM
1 Comments:
I had sorta the same feeling last week. I grew up Methodist, but then I changed b/c my faith changed, and was no longer a Methodist, and I found myself wanting to return to the church I was raised in if for only one verse of "Christ Our Lord Has Risen Today" All b/c I dont do change well. Well this morning, I didnt return, and my parents had finally had enough of being in a "spiritually dead" church and left too. We all went to Valley Praise Church together. Jadin likes the sermons, and where else can you go to get a good sermon, and donuts and juice at the same time all in just under an hour? Theyre trying to reach the unchurched and I appluad them for their efforts. I think I left Methodistism b.c it was so "orderly" so formatted that I became convinced you couldnt recite those prayers in the bulletin, that man wrote, and have God be okay with that. But I do see your point. I like the old hymns, but it is too "ordered". Its like an oreo cookie, theres two sides to it. Neither one is better, both just as yummy.
Happy Easter!
Sincerely,
The Olzweski Family
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