The Office

(...no, not the television show. Sorry.)

After receiving keys to the building yesterday, this afternoon I began the business of setting up my new office at Longview FCC--mostly it consisted of unpacking and shelving my many ministry-related books (have I mentioned already on this blog how much nicer a Kindle would be to unpack? Yep, I have. Lesson learned), but I also have been setting up a work-related email account, discussing a variety of plans for online ministry and communications with Charlotte, our church office administrator, that sort of thing. It is an exciting time for me, and hopefully, for Longview, as their new pastor has arrived with tags still on from the factory, er, seminary.

And these latter tasks, while a relief from the many manual chores of moving I've attended to lately, serve a greater purpose to me as a reminder that the four walls of my church office are still, in many ways, a facade, and that a minister's "office" extends far beyond the walls of the brick-and-mortar church. I think it is the United Methodists who coined the saying that the world is the pastor's parish, and as cheesy as that line may be, it is cheesy in part because there is a kernel or three of truth in it. And as a introvert, it is all too tempting sometimes to hole myself up in my office. It's even something Jesus sometimes did...not with an office per se, but when he saw the crowds coming in a number of instances in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he would turn 'round and head the other way to have a little peace and quiet. Not that I'm comparing myself to Jesus, my ego is quite healthy on its own!

Dan Kimball, in his book "They Like Jesus but Not the Church," talks about how he would hold some of his weekly pastoral office hours not actually in his church office, but would rather visit different coffeeshops, bookstores, and the like around his town and get to know people outside of his parish that way. It is something I hope to work on doing myself in my ministry--not simply because it is a nice change of pace, but because I truly do worry that if I did not, my own work, work that I feel called to do on behalf of a wider church that believes in totally naive delusions like, you know, social justice and inclusiveness and sustainability, would become something of an albatross around my neck, in which I far more rarely interacted with people outside of my own Disciples orbit. May that never be the case for this pastor, or for anyone in the business of doing ministry.

Yours in Christ,
Eric