Tim Keller on the Country Parson
Tim Keller has written a very helpful post on the benefits of being a solo pastor of a small church. You can read it here. While I agree with Keller’s assessment of the need for solid men to labor in the cities around the world, I have also found his thoughts on the benefits accrued in a small church to be true in regard to my present situation. In many ways I had my heart set on ministering in a church in Philadelphia, but the Lord called me to the wonderful work of planting a church in a small town in Coastal Georgia. The experience has been invaluable. I have had to do everything and anything. There have been many difficult and frustrating times, but I have grown through them and learned far more than I would have if I had not been placed in the leadership role I currently fill. I am thankful the Lord plants us in the soil in which He knows we will grow the most. Be encouraged if you are a man of God ministering in a small, rural town.
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Dear Nick:
Thanks for the post and the encouraging words. I am in Philadelphia, but I have the same experience as you. If anything, Keller understated it ! Urban does not necessarily mean bigger. Some communities are slow to embrace the Reformed faith.
And we need ministers committed to our small town! I thank God for the many small town pastor’s I’ve had who have been faithful in their calling and not eager for the city life.
Nick et al
Dr Keller makes some interesting points. I’m sorry to be the fly in the ointment, but I have a few points to ponder from Dr Keller’s comments. And these are not all aimed at Dr Keller at all, though I think they find some ground in his article.
First the issue of “early ministry experience”. For too many men this means becoming “staff” (I really hate that term in the church!) with a big name pastor, put in their three to five years (step on to that first rung of the ladder) and then move on to something bigger when it presents itself. I’m glad Dr Keller speaks against in his article -to his credit. The idea of a church making an “ideal first pastorate” (not a Keller quote) – I find really unhelpful. The gospel ministry is not a career ladder, to view it as such is greatly dishonouring to God. But to speak of early ministry experience, which can only be found in a small country church apparently is problematic. Dr Keller states “young pastors should not turn their noses up at such places[country pastorates]”. Why only young pastors? Why should older men not turn their nose up as the same?
Dr Keller states that he doesn’t have time to mentor. What?! What a scandal that senior pastors are too busy to teach and mentor junior pastors because they are “fund raising†(I thought that was diaconal business? cf. “Brothers we are not Professionals”) The fact is, if you ordain a man you have trust that God has equipped him to the task of being a teaching elder (that is not to say, however, that mentoring is not highly beneficial and desirable). But the ordained minister, hoever experienced, should BY DEFINITION be doing the things Dr Keller says they are not doing!! THAT’S OUR JOB!!!!
And therein lies another problem – young, eager men are ordained to office (though often not given a vote on the session- how does that work?) and are essentially viewed by the church, as glorified interns. If they need internships, don’t ordain them, give them an internship. And so they are called to be ministers of “Youth†and “Families†or the minister for “Twenty-some things†of for the “Contemporary Service†– (you get my drift) . They organise youth trips and teach Wednesday night bible studies and preach before the congregation about three times a year. If they are lucky they may get behind the Lord’s Table once in a blue moon. The very idea that we have men who have spent three of four years at seminary, have been licensed and ordained by the church of Christ, yet NOT doing the work of which Dr Keller speaks, is a shame on such churches. I’m sure these men, when sat in their Greek Exegesis or Biblical Theology class, never thought that is what their calling would consist of.
Why are they not shepherding? Why are they not counselling (is it because there are already a dozen trained “counsellors” on staff?) Why are they not visiting the sick etc? Why are they not leading the session meetings? Why are they not leading worship? Why are they not administering the sacraments (the list goes on…) Is it because they can’t be trusted and will make mistakes? Or is it because the church doesn’t esteem these “younger menâ€. Perhaps this is the case, but the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of the sessions of such churches: the office of minister (TE) has been systematically degraded over the years to the point that young men are often offered, and accept, the office without even being granted a vote on the session! That’s not even having one’s hands tied – that, is not having hands at all! How’s that for the trust of your contemporaries? The session’s view of the man will invariably be the congregation’s also.
I think lying beneath the surface of this article, which does make some helpful points, are the undertones of Dr Keller’s urban model. I’m pleased he has some good advice for young men, sad he doesn’t have time mentor such men (his system doesn’t allow it), and more than a little annoyed at a church polity which relegates some men to a second class office. I’m sure Scripture knows of no such thing.
Dear Matthew:
Where did I say (or even hint) in the blog post that I don’t have time to mentor?
Matt,
I tend to agree with your concerns, but do think there is such a thing as a preparatory ministry. This is not to say that the stepping stone should not be from one small church to another small church, or from the beginning of your ministry to a lifetime pastorate. But, as I have learned, there is so much that I do not know and only hands on ministry you get in the smaller churches can provide that. No mentoring, no matter how wonderful, gives the wisdom and growth that you get when you are thrown in to the work of ministry. I also share your concern about saying that the minister has a different job description because of the location or size of the congregation. The apostles said at the beginning of their ministries, “we will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.” I certainly believe they died saying this as well. The Pastoral epistles set the tone and temperature for Gospel ministry, whether in a small or large church. I think your concerns are valid. But, I am thankful that Dr. Keller has written something on the blessings of ministering in small, rural settings. It needs to be said by some of our more influential ministers.
Dear Matthew:
As a pastor in a small church I preached three different expositions a week (Sunday am, Sunday pm, and Wednesday pm) plus did all weddings, funerals, retreats and conferences. On the average, I prepared 200 different Bible expositions a year (for nine years).
In a more sizeable church, in which there are, say four or five ministers, and (at most) two preaching services a week, a new young minister might be appropriately asked to preach at the most 20 times. That is one-tenth of what I did in a small church. So even if all the pastoral jobs are done by all the pastors in a larger church, the young minister simply won’t have even a tenth of the experience in preaching. Also, ‘leading the session meeting’ when you are an associate pastor is nothing like actually leading the whole church and the elders as the senior or solo minister. One of the most difficult skills for a minister is to learn how to help a group of elders make a joint decision that they all feel they made together–and not were pushed into by the pastor. And yet the elders do want the teaching elder to be a leader, not to be too passive. You can’t learn this balance and skill very well until you are the senior pastor.
So I don’t believe you are right to say that if young ministers at larger churches were simply allowed to do the full range of ministerial tasks, that would be sufficient. I still think being a solo pastor is extremely important for pastoral growth.
Dr Keller et al,
Thanks for your reply. I want first of all to retract my early comments about your mentoring and your time. They were based on a misreading of your article. Dr Keller and I have communicated privately on this issue and retraction is the proper course of action.
I am not arguing that an assistant/associate will have the same level of experience as a senior / solo pastor. That is plainly not the case.
What I am arguing is that if a church is big enough for an assistant (or more than one, as in the case of Redeemer) there should be plenty of work for everyone. And by work, I mean meaningful work – the work of a pastor (his age is irrelevant actually, it just seems that a lot of younger men find themselves in this position). If there isn’t enough real pastoring (and I mean pastoring in its broadest and fullest sense) to do, why call the man in the first place.
My contention is that many assistants/associates find themselves in the unenviable position of being glorified interns, where they have little opportunity to practice or hone the gifts God has given them. I know of one assistant pastor, who in over 8 years of ministry has only preached on 40 occasions! That’s not my idea of exercising my calling to preach the Word. Maybe I’m wrong.
In a church of 150 people, two pastors (pick your own numbers!) would have more than enough pastoral work to do – yes each man should be able to deal with the “gamut of counselling and shepherdingâ€. Administratively, there is plenty of work for both men. The administration of the Sacraments could be shared on every occasion. Preaching and teaching should be shared equally (that is if both men are qualified and we haven’t meandered off on this specialization drive). A man is called to the Word and Sacrament – he’d better do both to the extent that he is a good steward of the gift God has entrusted him.
I suppose I’m arguing for a much more robust approach to polity and practice. I am fully on board with the whole mentoring concept (I wish I had more opportunity for it) and accept Dr Keller’s arguments regarding the experience of solo pastoring. But I do find it problematic that men are ordained to the ministry to do essentially the same job (with the same authority, actually) they had when they were interns, and are not given opportunity to flourish under more experienced men. That is not right. And really, speaking personally, if I had a man of such seniority over me (as I have currently) I would want to squeeze him dry of all he had to offer me – while still exercising my call to the gospel ministry in a meaningful way.
Matt