Outer Rim Territories

Peterson on Pastoral Identity

…The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches.  There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world.  The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them.  IN these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community.  The pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God.  It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades…

Ht: DOXOLGY quoting Eugene Peterson circa 1987.

Related posts:

1. Here We Stand: Lutheran Identity Crisis
2. Weedon’s Blog: Resolution Adopted by the Pastoral Conference of the Southern Illinois District
3. Titus – Relevant Pastoral Advice for Today
4. Pastoral Meanderings: Who was there in Bethlehem?
5. How is it Going?