{"id":22022,"date":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1996\/10\/01\/pastoring-house-divided\/"},"modified":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1996-10-01T00:00:00","slug":"pastoring-house-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/pastoring-house-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastoring a House Divided"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nT<\/strong>he political situation was tense when the Continental Congress met for the\nfirst time on September 5, 1774. It was moved that the Congress should be\nopened with prayer. Following debate, the motion carried, and two days later,\nJacob Duche, an Episcopal clergyman in Philadelphia, read Psalm 85 and prayed.\nJohn Adams wrote later that to see George Washington and others kneeling\nand praying for Boston, whose port had been closed by British troops, “was\nenough to melt a heart of stone.”<\/p>\n\n

\nToday, the tradition of prayer at the opening of Congress is carried on by\nJames David Ford. Ford became chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives\nin 1979 and has been re-elected every two years since. He also counsels and\ncalls on members of Congress.<\/p>\n\n

\nPreparing him for that role, Ford served as pastor of a country church in\nMinnesota and as chaplain, for eighteen years, at the U.S. Military Academy\nat West Point. He was the youngest person and the first Lutheran to hold\nthat post.<\/p>\n\n

\nLeadership <\/em>editors Kevin Miller and Marshall Shelley met Ford in his\nWashington office, once occupied by Henry Clay, to talk about being faithful\nin the midst of power and conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n

What do you hope your invocations for the House will do?<\/p>\n

\nFord: <\/strong>I have a problem with trying to measure these things. My mother\ndied at age 60, and I had prayed she’d be healed. I lost a brother at age\n5.<\/p>\n\n

\nI don’t pray to God because of the results. I pray to God because I know\nGod. God created me. I pray with Christ who redeemed me. That’s what’s important.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn the spring of 1976 I sailed the Atlantic Ocean with a couple of friends.\nIn a thirty-one-foot vessel, we sailed from Plymouth, England, to New York-5,992\nmiles. During the trip, we hit a real hurricane-some of the waves were\nthirty-five feet high-and frankly, I was scared. My father had said, “Don’t\ngo. You have five children. Wait till they’re grown.”<\/p>\n\n

\nThe hurricane went into its third day, and I thought of my father’s words\nabout the children. I thought, Why am I out here? Was this thing that\nI thought was courage and adventure really just foolhardy?<\/em><\/p>\n

\nThe skies were black, and clouds were scudding by. I wanted to pray for God\nto stop the storm, but I felt guilty ’cause I’d voluntarily gotten into this.\nI didn’t have to go across the ocean. We’ve got airplanes to do it now, and\nI was going across at six miles an hour.<\/p>\n\n

So is God obligated to save the foolhardy?<\/p>\n

\nThank you for putting it in a nutshell. Finally I came up with a marvelous\nprayer, seven words: “O God, I have had enough. Amen.”<\/p>\n\n

\nWithin half an hour of that simple prayer, the sky in the west lifted like\na screen in a theater, and there was blue sky.<\/p>\n\n

\nWas my prayer tied to the opening of the sky? I don’t worry about it.<\/p>\n\n

Wait. What made you decide to sail the Atlantic?<\/p>\n

\nOn my fortieth birthday, I was with friends, and somebody said, “What are\nyour goals?”<\/p>\n\n

\nI said, “I’ll give you four goals I’ll meet in four years.” Without thinking\nabout it, I listed four things I was going to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n

\nI said, “I’m going to learn how to play chess.” My son and I now play chess,\nand we get one point for a hundred games. It’s tied one to one.<\/p>\n\n

\n“Two, I’m going to do crossword puzzles.” I now do two every day.<\/p>\n\n

\nThree, I said, “I’m going to learn to ride a unicycle.” I went out the next\nday and bought a unicycle. The first forty minutes were very difficult. You\ndon’t believe you can do it. You think it’s totally impossible. But you do\nride the thing.<\/p>\n\n

\nThen the fourth goal was, “I’m going to sail an ocean.” The next day I got\nsome sailing magazines and started reading. Eventually, I went to England,\nbought a boat, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with two other fellows.\nThey’d never been in a sail boat.<\/p>\n\n

You recruited two people who had never sailed? That’s good\nrecruiting.<\/p>\n

\n(Laughter)<\/em> Good point. It raises a serious principle.\nThe two people I went with were not sailors, but both were West Pointers\nand Rhodes scholars.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhen you go across the ocean, what’s most important in your life? Is it the\nboat? Is it the money? Is it the resources? Is it the route? No. It’s the\ncrew-the people you take with you. When you go across the ocean in a small\nboat, you don’t pick sailors and teach them to be good people. You pick good\npeople and teach them to be sailors. That principle is basic to any type\nof activity.<\/p>\n\n

When you pray for the Congress, how do you pray?<\/p>\n

\nI remember the three-day debate on the Gulf War. The Congress was trying\nto determine whether to give the President power to go. It was the most intense\ndebate in my eighteen years here. And I had a son over there, so it was terribly\ndifficult for me.<\/p>\n\n

\nI offered prayer in the midst of that, and it was so simple: “May God’s blessings\nbe upon us and give us wisdom.” In such a moment, that’s about all you can\nsay.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn fact, generally my prayers are not related directly to the Congress.<\/p>\n\n

Why not?<\/p>\n

\nSometimes guests get up and say, “O Lord, we pray for these men and women\nwho are the great leaders of America.” It is true that we should pray for\nour leaders, as Romans 13 emphasizes, but if you focus on the representatives\ntoo much, they begin to think, I’m really something.<\/em> But part of the\njudgment is to say, “In the eyes of God, you’re a sinner.”<\/p>\n\n

\nAs chaplain I take the message seriously and take the people seriously, but\nsometimes it’s important to laugh at their culture and never stand in awe\nof it. The culture stands in awe of the gospel. The culture stands in awe\nof the cross.<\/p>\n\n

Is it appropriate to be prophetic in a prayer?<\/p>\n

\nSurely. I think you can do it without saying there’s only one Christian response\nto an issue. I think we ought to honor our lay people more and leave up to\nthem how to solve problems.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhen I was a pastor in Ivanhoe, Minnesota-farm country-I stood one Sunday\nmorning and said, “In today’s newspaper it says on one side that millions\nof people in the world are hungry. On the other side of the paper it says\nthe bins in America’s food granaries are bursting because we have so much\nfood.” I said to my farm congregation, “That’s a problem for Christians.\nBut it’s not my problem; it’s your problem. I’m not going to tell you whether\nto work on it in the Farm Bureau, the Farmer’s Union, or the Grange. That’s\nyour problem as lay people, and as a pastor I honor you by giving you that\nopportunity.”<\/p>\n\n

So you don’t take sides on political issues?<\/p>\n

\nIf I were to comment politically about things, people would think I’m a\ncommentator, and I’m not a commentator. I’m the chaplain.<\/p>\n

\nA congressman once came to me right before a vote. He said, “On the congressional\nvoting machines, they have three slots-yea, nay, or present. But when I think\nof that verse in the Bible, ‘What does the Lord require of thee but to do\njustice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?’ I wish God had given\nus another voting option: maybe.”<\/p>\n\n

\nWe people of faith can have different views. We can respect each other. We\nattack the problems of the day, but we’ve got to be humble in how we go about\nit.<\/p>\n\n

How are people selected to pray at the opening of Congress?<\/p>\n

\nWe have guests every week. They are nominated by members of the Congress\nand invited by me.<\/p>\n\n

What do you insist upon for someone who is nominated to pray?<\/p>\n

\nThey come as representatives of their American religious tradition. We expect\na Baptist to be a Baptist, a Catholic to be a Catholic, a Lutheran to be\nLutheran, a rabbi to be a rabbi.<\/p>\n\n

\nI caution them about the length of the prayer: it’s not a full, pastoral\nprayer but more like a collect, a short, simple thought at the beginning\nof the day.<\/p>\n\n

Would people from outside the Christian and Jewish traditions offer\ninvocations?<\/p>\n

\nYes. We had a Muslim give the prayer about a year ago. About eight years\nago a professor wanted to come who claimed not to be a believer in God but\nwho wanted to offer a statement. And I said, “No, we have prayers here. If\nyou want to make a statement, you run for Congress.”<\/p>\n\n

For what do you get criticized?<\/p>\n

\nSome people say we should have rotating chaplains and not a permanent chaplain.\nThose folks don’t realize the extent of the work. I’m here twelve hours a\nday, available for counseling and assistance to the ten thousand people working\non the Congressional staff. Members come talk to me about a campaign pledge\nthat’s too much or something that’s gone haywire. But whether pages or staffers\nor members, they sit on that couch and say, “Chaplain, I know you’re heard\nthis before.”<\/p>\n\n

\nThen I say, “But I’ve never heard it from you.”<\/p>\n\n

\nAbout fourteen or fifteen years ago, Madalyn Murray O’Hair sued the Congress\nfor having a chaplain. But the vote was 380 to 0 to support the chaplain.<\/p>\n\n

What’s the difference between a chaplain and a pastor?<\/p>\n

\nThe chaplain is ministering to people on the go; the pastor has the full\nministry of Word and Sacrament. For example, I don’t do baptisms here. If\nI do my job well, I get people into a church.<\/p>\n\n

\nYou can play golf in the living room on the rug, but when you really play\ngolf, you go to the golf course, because that’s where it’s done best. And\nwhen you want to involve yourself in the ministry of the faithful, you go\nto a congregation. There’s no alternative.<\/p>\n\n

You’ve been a pastor to a local church and a chaplain at West Point.\nWhat are the differences?<\/p>\n

\nI came from a country church in Minnesota. We had an electric organ; when\nthe Christmas tree lights were on, you couldn’t plug the organ in. The chapel\nat West Point has 172 stained glass windows and the largest church organ\nin the world, with 18,000 pipes (plus an organist and two people to work\non it).<\/p>\n\n

\nI went from a church where we had four Sunday school teachers to a place\nwhere we had 150 Sunday school teachers. General Eisenhower was a Sunday\nschool teacher.<\/p>\n\n

\nI’d had a choir of ten; at West Point we had 150 cadets walk down the aisle.\nWhen they sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” you got a tingle.<\/p>\n\n

\nDespite the differences, and the fact I came in with no training, the second\nday I felt I was at full speed because I knew how to be a pastor. In fact,\nin some ways this new congregation of several thousand young men was easier.\nThe problems they came to me for counseling about were limited in scope.<\/p>\n\n

What problems does a West Point cadet come in with?<\/p>\n

\nA cadet may say, “I’m nervous about being away from home. I don’t know that\nI can get through with all this pressure.” If you stay with the conversation\nlong enough, you end up with a theological answer.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn fact, the same holds true with members of Congress. Even though people\nhere are older and their concerns are different, there are really only five\nissues in life: forgiveness, faith, reconciliation, commitment, understanding.<\/p>\n\n

What did you learn about ministry at West Point?<\/p>\n

\nI was at West Point during Vietnam. That was a most difficult time for me.\nThe Class of ’66 at West Point took more casualties in the war than any other\nclass. I sometimes did three funerals a week.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn the book on that table (pointing)<\/em> is a picture of a young man.\nI confirmed him. I was at his wedding. I gave him Communion in Vietnam. Then\nhe was killed a few weeks later. His wife was pregnant, and I baptized the\nchild.<\/p>\n\n

\nI was pastor in a congregation of young people, and I got to love them. I\nknew their foibles, their problems. They went to Vietnam, and then I buried\nthem. The night before the funeral, I had to go to the hotel and meet the\nfamily. They would say, “Why? Why?”<\/p>\n\n

\nI remember when one young man was killed. His brother was a cadet, and I\nhad to call him out of a Bible study to tell him his brother had been killed.\nThat was hard for me. In the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians it says,\n“When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. But when\nI became a man, I gave up childishness.” I became a man during the Vietnam\nWar.<\/p>\n\n

\nI had to stand up and say, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” at certain\nmoments. I realized I can’t take myself seriously. But I must take the message\nseriously.<\/p>\n\n

What’s the difference between political leadership, military leadership,\nand pastoral leadership?<\/p>\n

\nFor more than thirty-five years, I have been associated with leaders. West\nPoint is the school of leaders. And here, in Congress, everybody is a winner;\nif you don’t get 51 percent of the vote, you’re out. (Of course, I tell members\nof Congress, “You get elected every two years. Pastors get elected every\nweek, because if the people don’t walk up those church steps every week,\nyou’re out.”)<\/p>\n\n

\nI’ve noticed that leadership comes in many different directions. It comes\nfrom the great orators and the people who aren’t great orators. We’ve got\nevery profession represented in the House-lawyers, clergy, teachers, former\nPeace Corps people. It’s bewildering to try to figure out the common denominator\nin a leader.<\/p>\n\n

\nI now think it’s this: a leader is one who accepts responsibility.<\/p>\n\n

\nIn our case as pastors, when we stand up, we’re taking responsibility for\nconveying a message that’s not ours. And that’s where we’re free.<\/p>\n\n

\nAs pastors, we lead not for political gain or military victory, though those\nmay be important. We are called by a greater Source to be faithful to our\ntask.<\/p>\n\n

What are some ways people misunderstand pastoral leadership?<\/p>\n

\nThe motto of my seminary class was from Jeremiah: “Let him who has my word\nspeak my word faithfully.” It doesn’t say “successfully.” The word\nsuccess<\/em> is a secular word that has little meaning to me, except in\nmy selfish moments.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhat’s success? I don’t know how you’d ever talk about a successful church\nor a successful pastor.<\/p>\n\n

\nThe word we have is faithfulness.<\/em> Our leadership comes out of being\nfaithful. That’s the greatest mental-health verse a pastor can receive.<\/p>\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n

\nWe have only one responsibility: to be true and faithful to\nthe Word. That’s the only thing. That’s a freeing concept.<\/p>\n\n

\nThe days of the pastor being the educated leader in town are over; others\nare just as educated. And the pastor doesn’t have power.<\/p>\n\n

\nSometimes I see pastors wanting power. They get interested in political power.\nThe reason is because they have no power as pastors. But we’re not supposed to.<\/p>\n\n

\nWe have no power other than the power of the gospel. The gospel’s the power,\nnot us. Our strength comes in being powerless-and to admit that and to accept\nit.<\/p>\n\n

\nI remember as a young man sitting outside the country church in Rush Point,\nMinnesota, with a bunch of pastors. My father was a pastor, my grandfather\nwas a pastor, and we kids sat and listened. The laughter of the pastors is\nwhat I remember. I think that true laughter is the opposite of sin, because\nsin is focusing on yourself, and laughter is turning out of yourself.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhat has helped me more than anything is growing up with generations of pastors\nand realizing, You’re not the message. But you tell the message.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

How would you express the message? What is the gospel message for someone\nserving in the House?<\/p>\n

\nIt’s exactly the same as in any place. I think we err on the side of relating\nto the culture and not keeping our distinctiveness.<\/p>\n\n

\nWhen I started out, I probably was trying to be relevant. I remember I was\nin the sacristy of the chapel at West Point, and the acolyte came in and\nsaid, “Chaplain, President Eisenhower’s in the front row.”<\/p>\n\n

\nI was about thirty years old, a very young chaplain, and a nervousness came\nover me. I thought, Will I be adequate?<\/em> I was thinking of myself.<\/p>\n\n

\nAnd then, as though the Spirit gave me the utterance right then, I was reminded\nthat in matters of faith the president doesn’t know any more than the lowliest\nplebe. And in the sight of God, we are all the same. I calmed down and went\nabout my work.<\/p>\n\n

\nCling to your distinctiveness and do not get too involved in the culture.<\/p>\n\n

You’re here in the midst of the culture. Where do you see the Christian\ndistinctive?<\/p>\n

\nWell, recently I stood in the middle of Washington, D.C., near where my wife\nworked, and I looked around. In one building you have a club, and in order\nto get in, you have to be a member. At the Capitol, you’ve got to win election\nto go upstairs. And to get in another building, you have to have a badge.<\/p>\n\n

\nShouldn’t there be some place where, as the Scriptures say, “Come unto Me\nall”? And there is. It is the church. You can go in there, and everybody\nis welcome.<\/p>\n\n

1996 by Christianity Today\/LEADERSHIP, journal.<\/p>\n

Last Updated: October 8, 1996<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The political situation was tense when the Continental Congress met for the first time on September 5, 1774. It was moved that the Congress should be opened with prayer. Following debate, the motion carried, and two days later, Jacob Duche, an Episcopal clergyman in Philadelphia, read Psalm 85 and prayed. John Adams wrote later that Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[154],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[648,649,156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3613,3761,4085,4660,4670,4679,5125],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-22022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-1996-leadership-journal","tax_publications-fall_1996-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-church-leadership","tax_ctp_tags-dependence-on-god","tax_ctp_tags-gospel","tax_ctp_tags-politics","tax_ctp_tags-power","tax_ctp_tags-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-teachings-of-jesus"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nPastoring a House Divided - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The political situation was tense when the Continental Congress met for the first time on September 5, 1774. 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