What I'd like to start, though, is a conversation about the "pastor pages" or "staff" pages on church websites. I've been on two or three recently that reveal what I'm perceiving to be a trend. The impact of the pastor's webpage is a bold and blunt revelation of what they like...
But what do you expect of a pastor's page on a church website?
Here are samples of questions that pastors are answering on church website pastor's pages.
what's on the iPod
what's eaten for breakfast
what's the favorite movie
what's being read
what's most annoying
what's the tattoo
what's the most humiliating experience in life -- like being duct taped to a pole
what's the biggest mistake made
what's the make of the car ... I could go on ... you get the point.
One site had a question about the "dream job" for the pastors and not one of them put down pastoring or preaching and discipling ... one had building furniture. Nothing wrong with building furniture, that's for sure, but ... if your dream job isn't pastoring ... well, it should be.
What annoyed me about these sites was the utter absence of a sense of the sacred in pastoring, of the overwhelming sense of God's call upon a life that reaches so deep that everything becomes holy, of the profound respect and privilege of the call to lead God's people, and of the total lack of order. The sense we hear today of being real and authentic doesn't mean we devalue the pastoral calling of its sanctity. I couldn't and wouldn't call any of these folks "Reverend." If I were a visitor, I'd go somewhere else.
OK, I'm for informality; I'm for being real; I'm for family and fun and the like. Occasional informalities and common realities are wonderful. But a church site with pages for pastors ought to reflect the sacred wisdom of the ages and sacredness of the vocation. Some of these folks need to wear the collar for a year, daily.
Recently Kris and I were in Atlanta. When the cabbie learned I had preached at a church, he asked me if I took prayer requests. When we got out of the car, he gave it to me and asked me not to look at it until later. I did, and prayed for him ... he asked me to pray for his anxiety about financial matters. That cabbie's perception of a preacher was someone who had access to God. Pastor pages on websites might learn from this perception.
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There's another slant to this informality/cultural conformity problem. When a group of us met with Reinhold Niebuhr almost 50 years ago, he said the church (and by implication, the pastor) should comfort the disturbed and disturb the confortable. This requires both seriousness, courage, and the wisdom to know the difference, to draw from another quote by Niebuhr. To be a pastor must be one of the hardest jobs in the world, especially in churches where your job is based on the approval of the church members. If in addition, if you have to hoe an orthodox line based on church superiors understandings or misunderstandings, I can understand how informality/cultural conformity coolness might be your path to personal and job survival.
Doug
Scot...You hit the nail on the head by saying that the sense we hear today of being real and authentic doesn't mean we devalue the pastoral calling of its sanctity.
Let's hope the Pastoral bar goes up a notch or two in the sanctity arena.
I couldn't agree more. I've been in the process of looking for a church home and I don't even visit churches that view the websites as a place to play. If they aren't serious on their website, then they aren't serious in the services. I don't have time to waste.
great post Scot! i often wonder who church websites are designed for. who is the target audience? i think this makes a difference in how we talk about ourselves, our ministries, etc. maybe getting away from the "churchy" language is an attempt to be accommodating to non-believers, but i wonder how many non-believers are out there looking for churches and doing so through web searches. in my opinion, websites are for members, attenders, and visitors. the church website is for Christians who are looking for more info about your church. we better be able to use language of call, passion, etc for these readers. great post!
We are a family oriented non-profit organization dedicated to teaching the Word of God through Teaching, Drama, and Music for the purpose of "Building Strong Families One Heart At A TIme".
We were wondering if there was anywhere on your site we could place our web address for pastors and church folk to see.
Thank you
Scott Carpenter
www.carpenterministry.com
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