Clergy Tales--Tails

Ministers are strong and weak, faithful and faithless, as are the members of their congregations. The miracle of the church is not in our faithfulness but in God's faithfulness. We are witnesses to how our confused reality keeps being interrupted by grace. This collection of clergy tales tell the stories of clergy in both their noble light and their shadows. At its most boring, there is something special about the ministry and frequently it is a full-time, hair-raising adventure that is anything but boring. This book seeks to provide parabolic stories of the complexity of ministry. It is an attempt to build respect for clergy, one story at a time. The necessary mundane nature of many of the demands of ministry can also blur the special nature of this body, the Body of Christ, chosen to incarnate God's expression of truth. There is a particular danger of moving from an adrenaline-pumping event in one moment to a mind-numbing meeting that solves nothing the next moment. Mix that with listening to how someone has taken offense at something you did, or the heart-breaking experience of watching a friend's marriage disintegrate, or the pain of strangers who have come to you in desperate need for help and you have a sense of the daily encounters in the ministry. A major cause of stress for a pastor is the disconnect between the ideals of faith shaped by his or her beliefs and the pressures and demands of serving a church. A pastor is called by God and hired by a congregation. Sometimes, these two forces are in tension. You are invited to read these tales and increase your awareness of the labyrinth that clergy walk in response to God's call.