Saturday, June 28, 2008

How much work should be expected from a pastor?

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why would anyone want to have a discussion with Bruce Church after what he's written. Unless he's kidding on his blog, he's a raving psycho.

BTW, I'm a layman, not a pastor, but I wouldn't wish Mr. Church or anyone like him on any Christian pastor or congregation.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of pastor's not doing their job, why don't the vast majority of Wisconsin Synod churches have the Sacrament in every Sunday service? (And, "we don't have to" isn't an answer).

Curious Jorge

Anonymous said...

Speaking of speaking of pastors not doing their jobs, why don't Wisconsin Synod churches offer the Sacrament every single day, not just every single Sunday? (And, "we don't have to" isn't an acceptable answer.)

Also, and this is an honest curiosity I have, have Christians historically referred to just one of the sacraments as THE Sacrament?

More Curiouser

Anonymous said...

More Curiouser,

"Why not every day?" Because of the hardness of our hearts.

Faithful Lutheran pastors offer it "when people ask for it." Some do. The pastor of our church is faithful. He offers it every single day, that is, he regularly lets people know that he will do so when asked and many take him up on it. The regularly scheduled days are Sunday, Monday and Friday.

Ask a dozen WELS members who enter church on any "dry" Sunday if they would desire the Sacrament if it were offered. Then ask the pastor why he doesn't. You'll be amazed at the answers. That is the difference. Some pastors, the faithful ones, will offer it whenever the people gather for a service and when they ask for it. Some pastors, the unfaithful ones, don't offer it when people gather for a service and refuse to offer it when people ask for it (because a hard hearted church council or voters assembly voted against people receiving the true Body and Blood of our Lord.)

Baptism was called Baptism, Confession and Absolution was called Penance and or Confession and the Lord's Supper was call "The Sacrament." The word sacramentum (Latin for mystery) apply describes the Lord's Supper (as of course other mysteries) and was generally used to describe the Supper. Luther regularly did. The ancients and confessors considered each "sacrament" in itself and not generally under a general category which sometimes leads to mishchief.

Curious Jorge