Judging from the posts above it's not just you, and writing from the Canadian maritimes, I understand the feeling of being a long ways away from "HQ." It affects us on a classical level too, since the majority of our classis is in Ontario. I really regret that the fall meeting of Classis Eastern Canada cannot be hosted in Fredericton CRC because of financial limitations. We wanted the privilege of hosting them in the year of our 50th anniversary.
Yet I think on the whole we're greatly blessed by being part of this denomination. The gifts we've received in the past as a "home missions church" when this congregation began 50 years ago have created a strong foundation. And the gift from Sustaining Pastoral Excellence to allow me to meet regularly with other pastors from the Canadian Maritime CRCs (full disclosure, I'm on the implementation team for SPE) is a really big support.
I appreciate the fact that the Executive Director of the CRCNA and the Direcctor of Canadian ministries came a year and a half ago and paid our congregation a pastoral visit - sitting in a circle with us, fielding questions, listening to concerns, leading us in devotions, and praying for us and with us - it reminded us that we're not forgotten nor ignored. Reps from Diaconal Ministries Canada, CRWorld Missions, Back to God Ministries International, Dort College, and Redeemer University College show up regularly. CRWRC was active in our neighbourhood when flooding occured in our province last December just a 20 minute drive from our church building.
No, not every mailing is tailor-made for our congregation, but overall, I thank God that we're part of the CRC. It makes it easier to think globally and act locally.
This is a helpful resource from 2014; thank you. One comment, though: if I understand various presentations from Canadian Centre for Christian Charities correctly, Canadian ministries are not permitted to charge different rental rates for members versus non-members under Canadian Not-for-Profit regulations.
Good question. Unlike the specific titles of "Minister of the Word" and "Commissioned Pastor," I don't know of anything in our church polity that governs who gets called, "Pastor." It seems the titled is applied according to local customs and sensitivities.
During my seminary years I served several congregations as an intern or student pastor. After I was commissioned in a congregation, I was usually called "pastor."
In one of those congregations, there was a widowed woman who loudly and publicly questioned whether the title was appropriate for an intern. In due time, I paid her a visit, heard her story of losing 2 husbands and spending more years as a widow than a married woman. As we grieved together, read a psalm of lament together, and prayed honestly together finding comfort in Jesus' death and resurrection, I was privileged to serve her as a pastor. After that visit, she never failed to call me "pastor," and vigorously corrected anyone who failed to honour me with that title.
Any person can be given the title of "pastor," but the serving people as a pastor is earned. It's a privilege (and responsibility) to bear the title "pastor." It's an even bigger privilege (and responsibility) to be a pastor to God's dearly loved people. Once you're able to serve people at the crossroads of faith and the brokenness of this world, titles are not very important any more.
I cannot speak for every CRC pastor, but I've always used the New International Version. For most of my life it was the 1984 NIV, but a few years back I purchased the 2011 NIV. While I consult many other versions, the Bible I use for sermon preparation, visiting, and personal devotions is the 2011 NIV. Hope this helps . . .
The bylaws of the congregation I currently serve clearly state that the minister is an "ex-officio member of Council." Therefore the minister doesn't have a vote. That has been the case in the CRC congregations I have served as pastor (2) and pastoral intern (4), mainly in Ontario.
I'm engaged in a summer series on the 10 Commandments, referencing the Heidelberg Catechism, looking at how Jesus has fulfilled each commandment, and exploring how each commandment reveals God's will for our life in Christ. I have completed the first three commandments and have had some very good conversations arising out of the Bible readings and brief meditations I email to the congregation each weekday as well as after preaching the sermons. I anticipate the second table of the law will likewise be challenging and rewarding.
I'm nearing the end of a series of sermons on Revelation 2-3. The Seven Sermons to the Seven Churches, using notes I have from a seminar in 2008 at Redeemer College let by Dr. Jeff Weima.
Interesting question; one I've enjoyed discussing with colleagues in a different setting. I dislike naming sermons. Many times I've been tempted to take a trick from painters and label a sermon "Untitled #4." A colleague refined that by suggesting, "Untitled #7 - from the author's 'blue period'."
However, I know that others appreciate having sermon titles. And I don't just mean the bulletin editor at noon on Fridays! Those who help select songs and those who give the children's message, REALLY like a good sermon title. It gives them some sense of where I'm planning to go with the sermon. Sometimes, as Randy wrote, the Word or Spirit leads the sermon in a different direction than I originally thought. I'm not going to sweat that.
Every once in a while, I hit on a great sermon title. Like any time you find an apt word or phrase, that's a delight.
We've been using Google Docs for almost 3 years. It works well to allow the minister and music coordinator plan services online, although usually a phone call occurs while both are logged on to the order of worship in question. The music coordinator colour codes the labels for the musicians so they can each see and rehearse the music they're responsible for in the service. Then on Thursdays, the bulletin clerk can log-on and cut and paste the order of worship into the bulletin and the audio/video coordinator can view the service and prepare the slides that are needed for songs and responsive readings.
Being in the cloud allows everyone to have the up-to-date document. The only hiccups occur when someone prints a copy before it's been finalized online or when the initial document owner forgets to extend permission for one or more person to access the document.
Posted in: Is It Just Me, or ...
Judging from the posts above it's not just you, and writing from the Canadian maritimes, I understand the feeling of being a long ways away from "HQ." It affects us on a classical level too, since the majority of our classis is in Ontario. I really regret that the fall meeting of Classis Eastern Canada cannot be hosted in Fredericton CRC because of financial limitations. We wanted the privilege of hosting them in the year of our 50th anniversary.
Yet I think on the whole we're greatly blessed by being part of this denomination. The gifts we've received in the past as a "home missions church" when this congregation began 50 years ago have created a strong foundation. And the gift from Sustaining Pastoral Excellence to allow me to meet regularly with other pastors from the Canadian Maritime CRCs (full disclosure, I'm on the implementation team for SPE) is a really big support.
I appreciate the fact that the Executive Director of the CRCNA and the Direcctor of Canadian ministries came a year and a half ago and paid our congregation a pastoral visit - sitting in a circle with us, fielding questions, listening to concerns, leading us in devotions, and praying for us and with us - it reminded us that we're not forgotten nor ignored. Reps from Diaconal Ministries Canada, CRWorld Missions, Back to God Ministries International, Dort College, and Redeemer University College show up regularly. CRWRC was active in our neighbourhood when flooding occured in our province last December just a 20 minute drive from our church building.
No, not every mailing is tailor-made for our congregation, but overall, I thank God that we're part of the CRC. It makes it easier to think globally and act locally.
Posted in: Facilities Use Policies
This is a helpful resource from 2014; thank you. One comment, though: if I understand various presentations from Canadian Centre for Christian Charities correctly, Canadian ministries are not permitted to charge different rental rates for members versus non-members under Canadian Not-for-Profit regulations.
Posted in: Who Can Be Called a Pastor?
Good question. Unlike the specific titles of "Minister of the Word" and "Commissioned Pastor," I don't know of anything in our church polity that governs who gets called, "Pastor." It seems the titled is applied according to local customs and sensitivities.
During my seminary years I served several congregations as an intern or student pastor. After I was commissioned in a congregation, I was usually called "pastor."
In one of those congregations, there was a widowed woman who loudly and publicly questioned whether the title was appropriate for an intern. In due time, I paid her a visit, heard her story of losing 2 husbands and spending more years as a widow than a married woman. As we grieved together, read a psalm of lament together, and prayed honestly together finding comfort in Jesus' death and resurrection, I was privileged to serve her as a pastor. After that visit, she never failed to call me "pastor," and vigorously corrected anyone who failed to honour me with that title.
Any person can be given the title of "pastor," but the serving people as a pastor is earned. It's a privilege (and responsibility) to bear the title "pastor." It's an even bigger privilege (and responsibility) to be a pastor to God's dearly loved people. Once you're able to serve people at the crossroads of faith and the brokenness of this world, titles are not very important any more.
Posted in: What Version of the Bible Do Most CRC Pastors Use?
I cannot speak for every CRC pastor, but I've always used the New International Version. For most of my life it was the 1984 NIV, but a few years back I purchased the 2011 NIV. While I consult many other versions, the Bible I use for sermon preparation, visiting, and personal devotions is the 2011 NIV. Hope this helps . . .
Posted in: Do Ministers Vote in Council Meetings?
The bylaws of the congregation I currently serve clearly state that the minister is an "ex-officio member of Council." Therefore the minister doesn't have a vote. That has been the case in the CRC congregations I have served as pastor (2) and pastoral intern (4), mainly in Ontario.
Posted in: Where can I find pastor job descriptions?
Several resources that apply widely are:
the letter of call: http://www.faithaliveresources.org/Content/Site135/FilesSamples/49710464065pdf_00000009268.pdf
the charge to the minister in the ordination/installation form in the Psalter Hymnal p. 995
and of course anything your Council has established to guide your pastor in the work they do.
Posted in: Share Your Sermon Series
I'm engaged in a summer series on the 10 Commandments, referencing the Heidelberg Catechism, looking at how Jesus has fulfilled each commandment, and exploring how each commandment reveals God's will for our life in Christ. I have completed the first three commandments and have had some very good conversations arising out of the Bible readings and brief meditations I email to the congregation each weekday as well as after preaching the sermons. I anticipate the second table of the law will likewise be challenging and rewarding.
Posted in: Let's Talk Sermons
I'm nearing the end of a series of sermons on Revelation 2-3. The Seven Sermons to the Seven Churches, using notes I have from a seminar in 2008 at Redeemer College let by Dr. Jeff Weima.
Posted in: What's in a [Sermon] Name?
Interesting question; one I've enjoyed discussing with colleagues in a different setting. I dislike naming sermons. Many times I've been tempted to take a trick from painters and label a sermon "Untitled #4." A colleague refined that by suggesting, "Untitled #7 - from the author's 'blue period'."
However, I know that others appreciate having sermon titles. And I don't just mean the bulletin editor at noon on Fridays! Those who help select songs and those who give the children's message, REALLY like a good sermon title. It gives them some sense of where I'm planning to go with the sermon. Sometimes, as Randy wrote, the Word or Spirit leads the sermon in a different direction than I originally thought. I'm not going to sweat that.
Every once in a while, I hit on a great sermon title. Like any time you find an apt word or phrase, that's a delight.
Posted in: Worship Planning on a Cloud
We've been using Google Docs for almost 3 years. It works well to allow the minister and music coordinator plan services online, although usually a phone call occurs while both are logged on to the order of worship in question. The music coordinator colour codes the labels for the musicians so they can each see and rehearse the music they're responsible for in the service. Then on Thursdays, the bulletin clerk can log-on and cut and paste the order of worship into the bulletin and the audio/video coordinator can view the service and prepare the slides that are needed for songs and responsive readings.
Being in the cloud allows everyone to have the up-to-date document. The only hiccups occur when someone prints a copy before it's been finalized online or when the initial document owner forgets to extend permission for one or more person to access the document.