The Interior Voices of the Pastor May 5, 2008
Posted by mgilm in Interesting Articles.add a comment
The external life of pastors, like all individuals, is deeply affected by his or her interior struggles, challenges, and discussions. Dr. W. Craig Gilliam, the director for The Center for Pastoral Effectiveness for the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, has written an article published by the Duke University SPE Newsletter that examines five inner “voices” that pastors need to pay attention to. “Over the years, I have found five attitudes, or “voices,” that are symptoms of interior struggle, he writes.
“When these attitudes surface, when we hear these voices, we need to pay attention. If we do, we will almost always discover that something is going on not just around us, but deep within us. If we ignore these symptoms, however, we may find our congregations becoming more resistant, anxious and stuck—and find ourselves at a loss to understand why.”
Pastoral Sabbath Keeping May 1, 2008
Posted by mgilm in Interesting Articles, Rest & Rejuvenation.add a comment
“Sabbath is a break from routine, a change of pace. In the midst of your busyness and achieving, God calls you to rest, to lay aside your to-do lists and let the sabbath be different than the rest of your days….”
Judith Schwanz from the Alban Institute asks some tough questions of pastors as they consider their own practice of keeping the Sabbath, as well as provides logical and thoughtful reasons for the importance of adhering to the practice. Read her article here.
