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Reading proposed by the author this week: pages 109 to 182.
- One of Marilynne Robinson’s extraordinary achievements in Gilead is to create.
- As a woman.
- A plausible narrative voice for a man.
- In addition.
- As a layman.
- He is able to capture.
- With incredible authenticity.
- The inner life of a man who works in pastoral care.
- Care.
Reverend Ames is honest about the challenges of ministry, familiar to any pastor. He complains about church meetings (?Only a few people present and nothing concrete has been removed?P. 237); confess how hard it is to love your sheep (?after a while, I wondered if I no longer liked the church when there was no one in it?p. 89).
At the same time, do you know that your parishioners treat you differently, respecting you more than you deserve?A benevolent imagination? (p. 53) which is hard to disappoint. He also regrets the relentless closeness of the next week’s sermon (?Looks like Sunday all the time, or Saturday night. As soon as we prepare for a week, are we already next week?).
The difference a minister makes
With these inevitable challenges, there are many opportunities for personal ministry. The same people who suddenly change the subject when they come to the pastor, says Ames, “Do you come to our office and tell us the most amazing things?”(P. 12) ?the resentment, fear, guilt and loneliness that exist beneath the surface of life.
In each pastoral meeting, did Ames seek to discern what the Lord asks of him?(P. 152). Even if it is a difficult person, this person is an “emissary sent by the Lord” who offers him the opportunity to show that, on some level, however small, I particive of the grace that saved me?( p. 152).
Throughout his life in ministry, faced with a wide variety of spiritual needs, Reverend Ames learned that trying to prove God’s existence is an ineffective strategy for dealing with spiritual doubt. “Can’t we tell the truth about God from a defensive point?(p. 215), believe. In fact, “the attempt to defend belief can, in fact, shake it”, because “Is there always an inadequacy to discuss the latter?”(p. 217). ).
He also learned to answer the questions people conceive of the torment of hell, which, according to him, the Bible characterizes primarily as a separation from God:?If you want to discover the existence of hell, don’t try to sustain it. with your hand the flame of a candle; Just think of the cruellest and most desolate point of your own soul?(p. 253).
Ames also learned the value of friendship to ministry. It is a blessed person to have Robert Boughton as his oldest and dearest friend and close colleague in the ministry. Growing up together in Gilead, the two now serve as pastors of the city’s main churches. They do not work alone, but share ideas, discuss their sermons, and pray for the families of others.
For reflection or discussion: What are the most difficult challenges you face in serving God in the church? What are the most important lessons you have learned about the department? The main lessons that you would pass on to someone right now? The questions that people ask about God? How did you learn to answer them or not to answer them? What models of relationship and responsibility support your department? What relationships do you still need to develop?
Translation: Leonardo Bruno Galdino. © 2016 Faithful Ministério. All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: the challenges faced by every pastor
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