Leaving the Group

After holding out for longer than I thought, I removed my name from the ELCA Clergy Facebook page.

There was part of me that wanted to continue to stay connected in this virtual community to see what my fellow brothers and sisters were up to and the thoughts which ran through their heads.

For a time, my curiosity was satisfied.

But then several topics started coming up which began to sway my opinion.  Actually, the topics (in my opinion) were downright depressing.

Here's a sample:

When you wear a chausible, do you wear your stole over the top of it or underneath it?

When you wear a cincture (a rope around your waist), do you tie your stole down with it or let it freely hang?

What do you wear to an outdoor wedding?

Even had a few arguments regarding whether or not one needed to have a Bible reading from one of the four Gospels at every worship service.  Some argued it was a necessity.  Others argued having a reading from any part of the Bible was sufficient.

*sigh*

Yours truly is not inspired by such conversation.

Neither was I inspired by the commentary suggesting we pastors ought to be responsible for every single aspect of church life.

I personally believe somewhere in this whole process of doing church, the power of the people in the pews must be unleashed.  To have an effective church, one must certainly have a good pastor; however, just as important is a group of unabashed people who are willing to put their faith into action in whatever manner the Spirit calls them.

When people are inspired to do ministry and come up with programs and ideas on their own, congregations are more effective than when the pastor has to drag them toward programs and ideas.  It's a simple fact of reality.

But instead of conversations about how such things need to take place within our congregations, we tend to be more interested in how we should arrange our liturgical garb. 

I'll pass on that conversation.