What Do We Say To Each Other? (and about)
When I shared a copy of Clergy Connection with Bob Lockaby, Conference Lay Leader, he said, "Thanks, I am interested in what preachers say to each other." Bob's comment summarizes the basic intent of this publication. Pastors and others are invited to share the fruits of heart and mind as we struggle with making our ministry relevant.
The truth is that we are not speaking "to" each other as much as we are speaking with each other. We are saying: "This is the way I see this issue. How do you see it? Are we on the same page? Is your experience different?"
In other settings, generally conversational, we spend time and energy speaking about each other, sometimes appreciatively, sometimes not. Most negative conversations about colleagues are autobiographical, a fact that would be obvious if considered in light of the Gospel. On the other hand, even negative conversations illustrate interest, emotional engagement, and a yearning for growth. Nothing is deadlier than detached apathy.
We are called to engage each other in conversation, in caring, in mutual encouragement. Truth tempered with grace is powerful. Even judgment conveyed in the spirit of agape love can be the agent of conversion. Affi rmation may be the tonic for a colleague's new beginning. A new thought may change everything.
What we say. How we say it. What does it mean? Can there be a difference between the mood and manner of our prayers and the mood and manner of our relationship with called colleagues?
Jim Green is Steward of Clergy Concerns for Holston Conference
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The Clergy Connection is a communication produced and written by the Clergy of Holston Conference for the purposes of deepening relationships, encouraging spiritual growth, increasing awareness of challenging opportunities, imparting useful information, stimulating theological exploration, providing a forum for honest expression and sharing the joys of creative ministries.
The Clergy Connection exists to call clergy into deeper covenant with God through Christ and to call clergy to live in covenant with each other.
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