All in a day's work

I remember when I was in 8th grade. We were required to read a certain amount of time during our Language Arts classes each week. Readers' Digest was my continued favorite. There was a section called "All in a day's work." So, I suppose I should talk about mine. Today I had 3 interviews - one with a supervisory role, one with a chaplain and one with an extension minister. They all seemed to be impressed with my questions. For the DS and campus minister, both are United Methodists. For many years one was single and to my knowledge the other has always been single. I like being single at least now but the question will always come up, especially when I am older, "So why aren't you married." One conjecture is that because I am a male, I will have a harder time. Congregants will be apt to try to set me up with someone, probably true. But appropriate responses are, "Marriage is a calling that I don't have." Or, depending on the context, a question could be, "Why do you ask?" I also asked what constitutes clergy effectiveness. I was deeply impressed and grateful for the focus on the Gospel. Making disciples, garnering faith and edifying faith of others should be a primary focus but also to develop leaders. I further talked with the chaplain who is ordained in a Baptist tradition. How can one be faithful to the Gospel and not able to proclaim it? In many cases, it's witnessing through actions and presence. A course in pastoral care yielded a deeper interest in calling. There are also interfaith components that I think I would struggle with. They're much rewarding food for thought!

Our Baptismal Covenant

I'll soon be preaching again - July 25. The object of my sermon is to focus on baptism as something communal. My scripture focus that day is a passage on Colossians that Paul writes to the Church at Colossae but a further passage from Genesis about the command to move on and not look back at the foreboding Sodom and Gomorrah. Paul outlines misbehavior and implies a moving on. Through our baptism we are raised with Christ. Through this coinciding resurrection, Christ's cosmic act becomes real and we're called to life anew and told not to look back. Paul's words weren't finger pointing at individuals: it was to a group. It's the promise and goals to those people that we're called to share as Christians - it's our baptismal covenant.