The View from the Pulpit:
Dear People of God at Resurrection,
As we begin a New Year of 2019, it is time for a little humor. Below are Twenty-two Really Weird Criticisms Pastors Actually Received (They ALL Actually Happened – but note: none were ever said to me!). This list was compiled by Tom Rainer, of Life Way Resources. While they are at times funny, they are also SAD that people would say something like this to their pastor – or to any other Christian!
- “You didn’t send me a thank you note for my thank you note.”
- “You are too happy!” I’ll make a point of being a total grump around you.
- “I will leave the church if you don’t put tissue seat covers in the bathrooms!”
- “I would be happy to take your wife to the store to help her select some appropriate clothes.”
- “Every sermon you preach is better than the next one.”
- “Why do we have to follow something an apostle wrote 2,000 years ago?”
- “The VBS hot dogs are too cheap.”
- “You don’t tell enough jokes when you preach.”
- “You need to stop talking about making disciples.”
- “When you changed the name from Sunday school to small groups, you took Jesus and the Bible out of the church!”
- “You didn’t give good advice about the family vacuum.”
- “I don’t like the color of your beard hair.”
- “Your hair color is too dark for someone in your profession.”
- “Just because it’s in the Bible, you don’t have to talk about it.”
- “Your wife used the wrong spoon in the coleslaw at the church social.”
- “We need to throw out the guitar to the streets. The piano is the only instrument that belongs in the church.”
- “You ended a sentence with a preposition in your sermon.”
- “Your pregnant wife is faking morning sickness.”
- “Why are you talking about your ten year vision. Don’t you know that the Blood Red Moon will mean that the world will end!”
- “The frequency of the bass is making it impossible for the Spirit to move.”
- “The music is too good – church music shouldn’t have that good of quality!”
- “This church looks a little to ethnic for me.”
Most funny. Some sad. Some angry. All uncalled for! All of these criticisms are
reminders of the challenges of pastoral ministry. Please keep that in mind as Resurrection transitions into new challenges and a new pastor in the future.
Please tell your next pastor how much you love him and appreciate him. IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN HIS MINISTRY!
________________________________________
AND SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IN THE NEW YEAR …
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the Magi are back home,
when the shepherds have returned to their flocks,
THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS BEGINS:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
Your Fellow Servant, in Christ our Lord,
Pastor Hank Hollar
