How Twitter Makes Me a Better Pastor
As a new 3/4 time rural pastor, I’m surprised to find that Twitter is a hugely important ministry tool for me. Without it, I’d be a much poorer pastor and would feel considerably less connected to supportive colleagues.
Before I began my position four months ago, I never would have guessed how helpful — to mind and soul — I’d find Twitter as a pastor. But here’s one simple real life example from last week. I was planning Deacon Training a few days before the meeting and I realized I had no idea whether I should give the new Elders and Deacons Book of Orders when they were installed. My gut said, “yes,” but that wasn’t the practice of the church — and those BOOs aren’t cheap. So I didn’t know what to do. In such situations, since my experience is fairly limited, I find it’s good to see what’s common practice in the church. So, I put out a Tweet:
do all elders and deacons get new copies of the Book of Order at their installation in your congregation? #pcusa
And within an hour, nine pastors and elders had tweeted back and told me the practice in their experience (incidentally, all reported giving the Book of Order to all elders and deacons).
I could have called my pastor friends around the country and asked the same question, but I saved a good deal of time and had a more public chat about things. Eventually, the thread branched into discussing elder and deacon training in general, which was helpful too.
One of the challenges of rural ministry is that it’s easy to feel like you’re in ministry all alone, unsupported by other colleagues. This is especially true for me as my congregation is located many miles from the next Presbyterian church (I’m thinking the next full-time Presbyterian pastor is at least 50 miles away, if not more). So, what a joy it is to be able to get feedback and support within minutes of a tweet.
I often find good articles from other pastors on Twitter, and support and am supported by others in prayer through tweets. Most importantly, though, I have an overwhelming sense that I’m doing ministry with friends and colleagues all over the place. When it comes down to it, Twitter expands and deepens my ecclessiology — it helps me see what I know makes what I know to be true intellectually, that the church of Christ is so much larger than my congregation. Through Twitter, I can see this church at work.
Sure, Twitter is not a replacement for in-person pastoral care, but it is at least a new and exciting form of pastoral support. Sure, my weekly in-the-flesh text study meeting with four local pastors is probably more essential to my ministry than Twitter, but Twitter augments each day with handy pastoral tidbits that make me a much better pastor.
So, to all pastors out there who think Twitter is just for fun, or simply ridiculous, I assure you it can be a fine ministry tool. Check it out, and @ me some time. Peace, from @ajc123
Sermon: "Baptized to Serve" Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Adam J. Copeland
FPC Hallock
January 10, 2009
Baptized to Serve
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22; Isa 43:1-7; Acts 8:14-17
Recently, I spoke to a pastor about a workshop she was organizing at a Presbytery conference. The workshop, she said, will address the fact that many folks in the U.S. aren’t growing up with the same exposure to church culture as they used to. In the past, it was more or less assumed that somebody who came into a worship service would at least know how to read a bulletin, find a Bible, and look up the scripture reading. Now, though, we, can’t assume a visitor could distinguish a hymnal from the Bible, so churches need to consider new ways of making worship welcoming to guests.
Maybe we don’t think too much about this in Hallock, but this pastor on the east coast sees it as a really big issue for her presbytery. How do we help new visitors feel welcome if the only time they’ve been in a church is for a funeral? Or another way to think of it: if you’d never been to worship before, what would our regular worship service look like? If you were an alien from outer space scouting out Hallock Presbyterians, what would you report about worship to your mothership?
Well this morning at least, an alien would have even a more difficult time than usual. The gospel reading is on Jesus’ baptism, the epistle reading declares the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism, the Isaiah passage is all about God’s creative power and redemption. And, as if those weren’t enough theological high jumps, today we ordain and install Elders and Deacons to leadership in the church. That’d be quite a lot to explain to a worship newbie.
Now there’s no way one sermon can really address all these issues, and it’s probably not even a good idea to briefly skim the surface. But, if we had to put this morning in one sentence to a first time visitor we could say: We are all called into ministry through our baptism (some called particularly to be Deacons and Elders) and our ministry is empowered by prayer and the Holy Spirit. … Continue Reading
ThePresbyterianLeader.com
Elder and Deacon training — a requirement of the Book of Order, but also just a darn good thing to do, and to do well. In my context, Elders and Deacons are elected at the end of November and installed in early January. This doesn’t leave much time for training, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.
So where does a pastor turn to plan Elder and Deacon training? What resources are available for a rookie pastor? Well, I looked no further than ThePresbyterianLeader.com (Full disclosure: they gave me a deal on the resources and I’m reviewing them on the blog.)
ThePresbyterianLeader.com is a newish online resource for Presbyterians. It’s similar to The Thoughtful Christian in that you can download pdf versions of studies, but it’s more too. There’s a worship planning resource, essays on doctrines and beliefs, and studies. I’ll probably check things out again this spring when we take on something like a Presbyterian 101 event series at the church. Until then, though, we might as well get these Deacons and Elders trained right.
So I’ll post again once I’ve worked with the studies. It’s a three session study for Elders and one session for Deacons. A quick read looks like they might just fit the bill just swell. Check out the site, and let me know how it has suited you.
Progress on PC(USA) Ordination Exams
I’ve blogged — or at least commented on other blogs — about the benefits and downfalls of PC(USA) Ordination Exams. While they were a relatively minor annoyance for me, they continue to be a huge stumbling block for many of my colleagues and surely are not organized in a pastoral (or even humane?) way. That said, I wanted to publicly praise the Office of Vocation for now offering the Bible Content Exam online.
I took the BCE in 2005, I think, and was struck even then that the last scantron test I took was four years before in high school. I’m very glad that we’ve moved to an online format for the BCE, and I wish the office the best as they continue to adjust to new technology and the multiple challenges of the test takers. I hope, sooner or later, the BCE might even be offered many times a year — say once a month — to ease the scheduling challenges of seminary and the ordination process.
Here’s the Presbyterian News Service article from last month with a fuller report: First online administration of Bible Content examination declared a success
Check Out These Sites
A few recommendations from around the web.
First, The God Complex, an internet radio show hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow and Carol Howard Merritt. Bruce and Carol run a fun show, but their guests are just fascinating. You can listen live and chat or call in questions, or pod cast it and listen on long runs (another thing I recommend).
Next, Enter the Bible, a new site from Luther Seminary is a great source for basic background knowledge on many things Biblical. The site won’t answer all your questions, but it’s a really good place to start when considering context, history, and criticism. The site continues the strong work of Luther Seminary online (come on, PC(USA) seminaries, you’re getting schooled).
Finally, you should join the Facebook fan page of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song. Go there to find our newest press release, some pictures of Presbyterians singing (add your own too), and other fun stuff galore. The committee is hard at work developing resources, including a new hymnal, to serve the PC(USA) and beyond.
What Makes the Presbytery Presbyterian?
I have long sought to be both solidly Presbyterian and consistently ecumenical. I think of serving as Co-Moderator of the National Presbyterian Youth Ministry Council while choosing to attend St. Olaf College, a school quite connected to the Lutheran Church (ELCA). It looks like my service as a member of the Presbytery of the Northern Plains will continue this trend.
Last week, I attended my first presbytery meeting as a Minister Member at First Presbyterian Church in Bismarck. Overall, I did enjoy the meeting and especially appreciated getting to know many of my new colleagues in the Presbytery (and wish the meeting could have had more friendly/meet and greet opportunities). What became apparent very quickly, however, is that the presbytery is seeking to understand what, these days, makes it Presbyterian. To be honest, I left the meeting with even less of an answer than when I arrived.
These numbers won’t be quite right since they change all the time, but my presbytery directory says there are about 25 PC(USA) Ministers of Word and Sacrament serving congregations in the Presbytery. There are 16 “Others Serving Presbyterian Churches” which include pastors (and different types of “lay pastors”) from the ELCA, UMC, AG, ECNA, and more. And we boast 16 Presbyterian Commissioned Lay Pastors, Certified Lay Pastors, and Commissioned Lay Pastor Leaners.
As part of the presbytery meeting, we had some conversations and activities to help determine the Core Values of the presbytery. As you might imagine, in a group as diverse as this we struggled somewhat. For example, if you are and Assembly of God pastor and this is your first PC(USA) presbytery meeting, it’s a bit tricky to hone in on what should be the presbytery’s core values. Finding any core at all, in fact, must be done very carefully indeed.
I preached a few weeks ago at First Pres Hallock challenging hearers to examine what makes them presbyterian. After attending presbytery, I think the question is harder for than group than it is for our congregation. A start, certainly, is that the presbytery is willing to change to survive, to welcome new forms of church leadership by lay pastors and those of other denominations.
But in the back of my mind is a question that’s been nagging at for many months now, a question left over from my Creation, New Creation, and Ecology class at Columbia Seminary: What makes a sustainable church?
So I wonder, is the presbytery truly sustainable with such numbers, ministers, temporary members, and commissioners? If so, what are we hoping to sustain — a Presbyterian identity? thriving small churches? evangelism and education? the core gospel message (and the PC(USA) stuff can work itself out)? I don’t know.
Our next meeting isn’t until February, so I’ve got a while to think (we meet twice a year, I’m told). I look forward to further understanding how the Presbytery of the Northern Plains can sustain be a healthy witness to Christ.
image by: Christophe Libert
The Presbytery of the Northern Plains, My New Home
Tonight, I was approved by the Presbytery of the Northern Plains to serve as Stated Supply Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hallock, Minn. Yay! I’m really excited to be working with the good folks of FPC Hallock, looking forward to getting to know the community, and pretty darn pumped for the annual Pie Social. It’s a great call for me and for Megan, and I’m grateful for the support of so many through the process — including, tonight, the many prayers through Twitter connections. I’ll be ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament on Sept 6th in Tallahassee.
I’ll wait for another day — and more lucidity — to say any more specifics about the exam or the call, but I will say it went very well. Instead, I’ll include below my address to the presbytery. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, read on:
Address to the Presbytery of the Northern Plains on My Commitment to the Ministry
Adam J. Copeland
August 26, 2009
Madam Moderator, it is with a deep sense of joy and a great hope for the future that I speak tonight on what the Book of Order (G-14.0482) terms ‘the candidate’s’ “commitment to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.”
I became an Inquirer in the Presbytery of Florida back in February of 2003, when I was a junior at St. Olaf College. I still remember writing to my pastor from a computer in an internet cafe in Seoul, Korea where I was studying on the college’s Global Semester program, to say that I was interested in beginning the discernment process. Then, I had no idea where I might be called, but I knew that my gifts might be suited for ordained ministry, that that path was one I was called to at least explore.
Over the next six years from Seoul back to St. Olaf; from St. Olaf to Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; from Columbia to serving as an Assistant Minister in Ayr, Scotland; and now to Hallock, Minnesota, I have explored my gifts for ministry and been supported by many. I have learned from the best and the brightest at Columbia, but also from those other Atlantans whom society forgets, from the homeless and diseased, the battered and the down-hearted. I have served the national church in several capacities, but also been active in a local church choir. I have been through the rigors of ordination exams, been immersed in the Bible, survived Church History and now, if the body is willing, might be called to serve as Stated Supply pastor in Hallock.
In Hallock, I think I know (and I surely have been told) the ministry of Word and Sacrament will not be as simple as it is made out to be in the seminary classroom. Storms will come; at many-a-time no book will supply the answer. But so too will joy come in the morning. Just as the wind blows on those northern plains, I trust the Spirit of God will make a way clear. And with the support of the congregation, the session, and this presbytery God’s work might be done.
And so, I assure you, my commitment to the ministry of Word and Sacrament is strong for I rest my faith and hope not in my experiences or education–though they are solid — but in Jesus Christ, the rock of our salvation.
As I was unpacking this week I came across a passage in the Second Helvetic Confession that speaks exactly to this commitment — true story, I found some old ordination exam study cards. Section 5.155 of the Second Helvetic Confession describes ministers as “Stewards of the Mysteries of God.” The passage builds on 1 Cor. 4 to say that ministers are like rowers of a boat who must always follow the lead of the captain, Jesus Christ. Only with their eyes fixed on the captain might ministers know whose command to follow, for whom to care, and that all the affairs of ministry are subject to Christ’s ways and will.
If this presbytery concurs, it would be a great honor to fix my eyes on Christ in the beautiful corner of God’s creation that is Hallock. Then, with the good folks at First Presbyterian Church, I might row a ship with eyes fixed on Christ, energized by Holy Spirit, and supported by God the Father, sharing this Trinity of Love with those of this presbytery and beyond. To that ministry of Word and Sacrament, I assure you, I am deeply committed. Thank you Madam Moderator.
image by Kateřina Štěpánková
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