8/8/24
The young lady who asked this question had previously asked for some help with conversational English. Though she was very well trained in grammar and could read and write fluently, she found it difficult to understand and be understood in conversations. While I was helping her with accents, she also asked for some help preparing for a driver's license exam. After I had to cancel a meeting due to being called to the hospital to pray with a dying man, she was curious about why I would do that. The man was not a relative of mine or a close family friend. So she asked me what a Christian pastor does.
My answer was necessarily incomplete. She was not a Christian and had no knowledge of what goes on within Christian liturgy, or any distinctive traits of any different Christian communities.
I told her that a Christian pastor's most visible work is leading prayers, worship, and teaching from the Bible in church gatherings. She understood this easily because in her Muslim background that is similar to what an imam would do. She was surprised, though, when I added that the pastor tries to be present at or shortly after birth to support the family and welcome the child to the Church through baptism, that the pastor will normally help the family teach the Christian faith as children grow, will come to the hospital or visit at home to pray for those who are sick or disabled, will often participate in milestones such as graduations, counsels couples before and after their weddings, attends to those who are dying, and conducts respectful Christian funerals followed by ongoing care for those who are grieving. She concluded, "A pastor must be a really important person to Christians!"
Really, you could say that. However, what is the pastor? The term "minister" sums it up. I'm here to care for people, using God's Word, the Sacraments, and the care of the Holy Spirit in prayer and encouragement. Oh, yes, this pastor also helps people speak idiomatic English and drive safely. And the vending machines in the building are down the hall and to the left. The church building you are thinking of is a block farther west and three blocks north, and there's another one you weren't thinking of right near the school of Business.
The young lady who asked this question had previously asked for some help with conversational English. Though she was very well trained in grammar and could read and write fluently, she found it difficult to understand and be understood in conversations. While I was helping her with accents, she also asked for some help preparing for a driver's license exam. After I had to cancel a meeting due to being called to the hospital to pray with a dying man, she was curious about why I would do that. The man was not a relative of mine or a close family friend. So she asked me what a Christian pastor does.
My answer was necessarily incomplete. She was not a Christian and had no knowledge of what goes on within Christian liturgy, or any distinctive traits of any different Christian communities.
I told her that a Christian pastor's most visible work is leading prayers, worship, and teaching from the Bible in church gatherings. She understood this easily because in her Muslim background that is similar to what an imam would do. She was surprised, though, when I added that the pastor tries to be present at or shortly after birth to support the family and welcome the child to the Church through baptism, that the pastor will normally help the family teach the Christian faith as children grow, will come to the hospital or visit at home to pray for those who are sick or disabled, will often participate in milestones such as graduations, counsels couples before and after their weddings, attends to those who are dying, and conducts respectful Christian funerals followed by ongoing care for those who are grieving. She concluded, "A pastor must be a really important person to Christians!"
Really, you could say that. However, what is the pastor? The term "minister" sums it up. I'm here to care for people, using God's Word, the Sacraments, and the care of the Holy Spirit in prayer and encouragement. Oh, yes, this pastor also helps people speak idiomatic English and drive safely. And the vending machines in the building are down the hall and to the left. The church building you are thinking of is a block farther west and three blocks north, and there's another one you weren't thinking of right near the school of Business.
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