Well, that depends. In some church traditions, they simply name a
person doing any ministry a “pastor.”
They have youth pastors, music pastors, accounting pastors, etc. It requires no special educational
requirements, no approval process and no credentials.
In the Lutheran Church, there is a lengthy process
that includes a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree from an accredited
seminary, an internship, an approval from a candidacy committee and a call from
a congregation.
Is there
something in between these two extremes?
In Acts 6
when the twelve disciples were overwhelmed with the work because of the growth
of the early church, they sought out seven men full of the Spirit and of
wisdom. They laid hands on them before
the congregation and prayed for them.
On August 19
we will do the same.
At all three
services we will present to the congregation Tenny Shifley, a twelve year member
of Christ Lutheran who has graduated from Southern Lutheran Theological
Seminary. We will lay hands on him and
pray for him and he will become a part of our pastoral team. We understand that Tenny will not be a pastor
for the entire Lutheran Church, but he will be a fully recognized pastor for
Christ Lutheran Church.
Tenny’s responsibilities will be evenly divided
between his passion and gifts for music and pastoral care. In this capacity, he will oversee the
“Connect” aspect of our mission statement, dealing with visitation, P3
Ministries, and small groups.
The main
issue is not about degrees on the wall.
It is about calling God’s servants to do God’s work among God’s
people. On August 19 we celebrate that
calling with the commissioning of Pastor Tenny Shifley.
Peace,
Pastor Scott
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