The Office of Holy Ministry
Sean, a Kantor (Minster of Music in modern-speak) in Michigan has a broad, if not inclusive look at the Office of the Holy Ministry. He hits quite a few of the hot-button topics and does so in a solidly confessional way. I'll give you some samples to whet your appetite. Hot Lutheran on Lutheran Action: The Office of Holy Ministry
... [the pastor] would like to see my former congregation become a mega-church, much like another LCMS congregation down the road. He is setting himself up as the "CEO" pastor, and has not had a large amount of success thusfar. My father thinks the problem is that Pastors are taught that they are God's voice to the world, and that without them, God's work and will would not be done. As a result, this builds an ego and leads to a lot of abuse. In the case of my former congregation, I think that's probably right on the money.. ...The one thing is, pastors ARE God's voice to His people. They are the called and ordained servants of the Word. They act "in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ". I want nothing less from a pastor... ...No wonder the first thing a CEO-style pastor will do is to change the Divine Service: The liturgy is their handcuff. They are bound by it to serve the laity and not themselves. The one place where a step-by-step set of instructions does not exist for the Christ's ministry in the Divine Service is in the sermon... ...Maybe congregations don't want their pastor to be their slave. Maybe congregations don't want Christ to serve them? It seems clear to me that any pastor who insists on the historic liturgy, especially when they insist on the many ceremonies that accompany it, is willfully and intentionally asking to be shackled. To be bound and chained to Christ and His cross, and stripped of their own glory. They donn vestments that hide themselves, showing only the Office they hold. They do not choose their own words, but instead speak only Christ's Words. Their Benediction, Pax, and Verba are not their own, but are Christ's. They may not speak their own comforting words, no matter how deeply they as individuals care for their parishioners. They speak only the comforting Words of Christ... ...When one questions or has doubt, they are not directed to Holy Scripture or to the Lutheran Confessions, but are called names, put down, dismissed, or directed to human reason or emotional appeal. These pastors are not Christ's ministers. They are their own. What to do with one who has a call and yet builds his own glory instead of being a slave?...
