Part-time Pastor issue....doing the bare minimum?

[The Liturgist]

I disagree. The situations you are describing are of full-time pastors who have full-time ministry duties, family life, etc.

No, I was specifically talking about part time clergy, myself included.

The problem as I see it is that you are expecting your part time pastor, who is already serving in the role of presbyter and probably episkopos if your church has a congregational polity, to also provide a diaconal ministry.

You don't know my church well haha.

I do believe everyone could step up and try to fill the void the pastor is not filling, but there is only so much you can do unless you are young pastors in training and this is a great feeding ground to almost hijack a ministry and cut your teeth.

But if you try to do anything too much, then they will reprimand you for acting like you are the pastor lol. The problem is quite easy to see here. Every church needs shepherding/pastoral care or some sense of care and nurturing of the members. If no one is caring or nurturing the members, including the pastor, then it's easy to see where the blame goes first. Pastor.

Who will reprimand you? The pastor? If he does reprimand people for offering to help him by serving as a deacon, or lay servant, or in some other supporting capacity, and is part time, then in that case his conduct would be open to criticism.

However if you or your fellow parishioners are unwilling to step up and offer to assist him by providing the diaconal ministry he clearly lacks the time to undertake, then you have nothing to complain about, frankly, since your church is getting what it paid for.

The role of the presbyter is to preach and administer the sacraments, including visitation of those who are very ill, but otherwise, the kind of personal service you are talking about is why we have deacons and deaconesses, and also presbyteras (the wives of married presbyters) serve in this role in some churches.

 

[The Liturgist]

Have you offered to help him? Carry some of the load?

I have been bi vocational a number of times working five nine hour days a week and preaching Wednesdays and Sundays. It takes a team of ministers to run a church.

Exactly. Only a very small congregation, of say twelve to twenty people in size, can be handled by a single minister.

And even then most liturgical churches require at least one lay minister in addition to a presbyter, such as a cantor, reader or an altar server or acolyte (or ideally, a cantor and a reader and an altar server; the latter job is particularly good for boys. And a team of retired ladies with good aesthetics is invaluable for an altar guild, as they have the time and the skill to ensure that the church is beautifully decorated with the appropriate paraments and floral arrangements throughout the year.

One thing I love about the Eastern Orthodox church specifically is that even in Lent, indeed even on Good Friday, indeed especially on Good Friday, the church is decorated with gorgeous flowers. In my experience the Oriental Orthodox do not do quite as much with flowers, but make up for it in other ways.