Four-Way Call

I serve the wider church, and the community, in a number of ways. Sometimes, it seems that I serve the wider church and the community as much as I serve the local church to which I am called as Senior Pastor. This situation can occasionally become a matter of concern for persons who do not understand the four-way call of clergy.

As part of the clergy call, there are four areas of responsibility for which clergy are accountable. The first arena of call is to the Word and Will of God. Clergy persons are asked to exercise great care to ensure that what they say and do is reflective of God's love and grace. That Word and Will call clergy to act in ways that sometimes fail to reflect other values or other considerations. Clergy are accountable for faithfulness to the Word and Will of God. This call takes considerable time and energy and includes prayer, study, spiritual discipline and meditation.

The second arena of clergy call is the community in which one serves, as part of the global community. Clergy are responsible for representing Christ in, to and for the community in which one is located. But clergy are responsible for seeing local community as part of the global family of God (see arena #1). To be an active and vital part of the community, clergy are called upon to represent Christ, not so much as examples to be followed or honored, but in initiatives and life-styles that reflect God's love and grace. Once again, this takes considerable time and energy.

Thirdly, clergy are called to accountability to the local church in which one pastors. Clergy persons are responsible for ensuring that the local church represents God's love and grace in the community and the world. Clergy must see the local church as an expression of and embodiment of God's grace within and for the community (applying God's will within specific communities). Clergy are accountable for local church training, education, preparation and action that faithfully expresses God's word and will in the community and world. Of course, this requires a considerable amount of time and energy.

The fourth arena of clergy call is the wider church. Clergy persons are accountable for the ministry of the church beyond local settings. Clergy must be actively involved in wider expressions of God's grace and love. Sometimes, and with some persons, personal skill sets are needed by the wider church in different ways and to different levels. Lately, I have been called upon to be very active in the wider church. I serve the Association in a host of different capacities. I serve even wider, as a participant in the conversations about Conference restructure and as a delegate to The United Church of Christ General Synod. These responsibilities take tremendous amounts of time and energy.

Clergy are called to all four arenas of accountability, not just one of them. This happens to be a period when my skill set is being used in the wider church. I believe that God has called me, equipped me and enabled me to fulfill the richness of the ministry to which I am called, in all four arenas. I hope that the local church can demonstrate patience and understanding in a period when my gifts are called upon in the wider church. I am not ignoring or abandoning you, as someone claimed to the head of Shiloh's Personnel Committee. I am not padding a resume. I am not thinking of myself. I am being faithful to the four-way call to which I am called.