Life on Planet Earth on Clergy

liturgy

Jesus–our Lord, Savior, Friend and

Author

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Psalm 23:1-2

Jesus–our Lord, Savior, Friend and Companion: To be “in” You is to no longer be strangers to Your Father, or to one another. In You–we are brought near. In You–we are redeemed and forgiven. In You–we ...

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Burnout in Clergy

Author

Andrew Purves

Keywords

What is happening to us, we who are the ministers of Jesus Christ? Many of us are professionally, spiritually and financially depressed. The figures produced by studies only serve to quantify what we ...

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Trust in Pastors is (Way) Down

Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

In my lifetime, the classic image of the devoted parish pastor who could be trusted to rightly preach the word, diligently care for souls, and wisely lead the church has shifted dramatically. With maj...

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Author

Karl Menninger

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 51:3-4, Ephesians 4:31-32, Proverbs 6:16-19, Isaiah 59:2

The clergyman cannot minimize sin and maintain his proper role in our culture’. For sin is ‘an implicitly aggressive quality – a ruthlessness, a hurting, a breaking away from God and from the rest of ...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form I

Scripture

Romans 8:38-39, Acts 2:42-47, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 68:19

Deacon or other leader With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying "Lord, have mercy." For the peace from above, for the loving-kindness of God, and for the ...

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The Greatest Threat to the Church?

Author

Tim Muehlhoff and Richard Langer

Keywords

What is the greatest threat to the church of Jesus Christ today? There are so many threats to choose from. Some Christians would identify hazards like postmodern relativism working to unravel notions ...

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Seared into Her Conscience

Author

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Keywords

Slavery

Sarah Grimke, the daughter of a slaveholder and judge in Charleston, South Carolina, was five years old in 1797 when the sight of an enslaved person being whipped seared her conscience. Like many whit...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or “carriers” of Christ to other men. Usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others....

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Presence in the Universe

Author

David G. Benner

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:4

Now, in our lifetime, scientists are finding ever newer evidence for what some religious people called presence in the very organizing energy of the universe—from fractals, to holograms, to electro-ma...

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Jonathan Swift’s Exhortation for Two

Author

Jonathan Swift

Keywords

While primarily known today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift also served as an Anglican priest in his home country of Ireland. While his writing gained significant traction througho...

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Donne, Undone

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:31-33, Matthew 19:4-6, Romans 8:28, Proverbs 22:1, 1 Timothy 3:7, Titus 2:7-8, Philippians 2:15, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 6:4-5, Daniel 1:17-21

While movies and novels often present stories of a budding love interest willing to give up everything for “true love” (Romeo and Juliet, for example), the renowned poet, and later clergyman, John Don...

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Platitudes not Necessary

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Writer Harriet Sarnoff Schiff has distilled her pain and tragedy in a book called The Bereaved Parent. When her young son died during an operation to correct a congenital heart malfunction, her clergy...

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"I Don't Remember"

Author

Ron Lee Davis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 4:7-8, Ephesians 1:7, Jeremiah 31:34, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 8:12, Micah 7:18-19

In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World , Ron Lee Davis shares a powerful story of forgiveness about a priest from the Philippines. The clergyman had carried the weight of one particular sin that ...

liturgy

You, O Lord are holy and worthy of

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:12, Psalm 51:10, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Ephesians 4:22-24, Leviticus 20:26

You, O Lord are holy and worthy of worship and praise. But we your people are sinful and unworthy. You have called us to be a holy nation of your own people but we mostly think only of ourselves and...

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Author

Clyde Reid

Keywords

We structure our churches and maintain them so as to shield us from God and to protect us from genuine religious experience…The adult members of churches today rarely raise serious religious questions...

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Author

Bernard of Clairvaux

Keywords

Persecution shows who is a hireling, and who a true pastor.

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Prayers of the People, Form V

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

Deacon or other leader In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, have mercy" ( or "Kyrie eleison"). For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and lov...

liturgy

O Lord and Father of the household of

Author

Hughes Oliphant Old

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:10, Micah 6:8, James 5:16

O Lord and Father of the household of faith, we thank you for the gift of faith worked within us by your Holy Spirit. We thank you for having called us to yourself, for consecrating us to your ser...

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Father God, too often we show

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 82:null, James 2:1-13

Father God, too often we show preference to those who appear to have it all together, to those whom we consider complete: the self-motivated, self-made, and self-sufficient. We honor the rich and look...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form III

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, James 1:27, Romans 12:15, Micah 6:8

The Leader and People pray responsively Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church; That we all may be one. Grant that every member of the Church may truly and humbly serve you; That your Nam...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form VI

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

The Leader and People pray responsively In peace, we pray to you, Lord God. Silence For all people in their daily life and work; For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are...

liturgy

We pray, dear God, for our spiritual

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

We pray, dear God, for our spiritual leaders. Increase in them the charism of faith that they might preach the Word of God with boldness. Increase in them the charism of wisdom that they might gui...

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Author

Stuart Briscoe

Keywords

Qualifications of a pastor: the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros.

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

The church is often called a killjoy for protesting against sexual license. But the real killing of joy comes with the grabbing of pleasure. As with credit card usage. the price tag is hidden at the s...

liturgy

Adapted from Acts 2:42-46

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-46

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread; and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ...

liturgy

Hebrews 10:21-25 "And having a high priest over

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:21-25

And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pur...

liturgy

Gracious God, thank you for giving

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Gracious God, thank you for giving human beings authority over your world. It is truly an honor to receive this from you. Forgive us, Lord, for all the ways we have been poor stewards of the world yo...

liturgy

Pastor: Who are you? Ministers: We are

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Pastor: Who are you? Ministers: We are God’s people, called by God’s love in Jesus the Christ, not because we are adequate or worthy, but because of God’s acceptance of us. Pastor: Why have you c...

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Institutional Inertia

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 16:3, Numbers 14:4, Luke 5:37-38, Isaiah 43:19, Joshua 1:9

Churches, seminaries, and nonprofit organizations are notorious for saying they need change and then resisting the very leader they called to bring it. One of my consulting clients told me that he cal...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

But to reject, marginalize, trivialize, or be suspicious of the sacraments (and quasi-sacramental acts such as lighting a candle, bowing, washing feet, raising hands in the air, crossing oneself and s...

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