{"id":9329,"date":"2011-08-08T16:27:59","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T16:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2011\/08\/08\/authorityrelocation\/"},"modified":"2011-08-08T16:27:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-08T16:27:59","slug":"authorityrelocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/authorityrelocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Authority Relocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my late twenties I made a shift from pastoring a mid-sized congregation in Minnesota to planting a church in the heart of San Francisco. Beyond the obvious cultural adjustments, the most challenging aspect of this transition was how my identity as a pastor was called into question.<\/p>\n \n

In Minnesota, when people at the gym or grocery store found out I was a pastor, they were kind and deferential. They might ask a theological question, tell me about a personal problem, or sheepishly apologize for cussing in front of me.<\/p>\n\n

In San Francisco, when I told people I was a pastor, the reaction was starkly different. The vocation seemed to provoke outbursts of profanity followed by diatribes about inquisitions, crusades, slavery, and religiously-motivated hate crimes. For many people I met, religion had been a source of hurt rather than healing. They were suspicious of my motives and what my office represented.<\/p>\n \n

Relocation opened my eyes to two disparate views of the pastor’s position. In the Midwest, I was able to capitalize on the inherited authority of my title as “pastor” and the general respect for Christianity within that culture. In my new post-Christian context, I would have to earn credibility and trust by being a living example of what Jesus embodied and taught about life in God’s kingdom. I became painfully aware of my relative lack of formation as a disciple, realizing that I had been groomed for leadership in a system that rewarded me more for my knowledge of Scripture and skills as a teacher than for my lived experience of knowing God and loving people. At first I was devastated by the loss of inherited authority. But gradually I learned to welcome the challenge, to become a beginner again, recognizing that God is interested not only in what I might accomplish as a pastor, but in who I am becoming as a follower of the Way. And I’ve learned to value the hard-earned respect of friends outside the faith, particularly one who said, “I don’t really understand Christianity or what a pastor does, but I do know that you listen and care about people better than anyone I’ve ever met.”<\/p>\n\n

—Mark Scandrette is founding director of ReIMAGINE, a spiritual formation center, and author of Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love<\/em><\/a> (IVP 2011)<\/p>\n\n

Copyright © 2011 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership Journal<\/em>.Click here<\/a> for reprint information on Leadership Journal<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my late twenties I made a shift from pastoring a mid-sized congregation in Minnesota to planting a church in the heart of San Francisco. Beyond the obvious cultural adjustments, the most challenging aspect of this transition was how my identity as a pastor was called into question. In Minnesota, when people at the gym 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":[2413],"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":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[3459,3666,3671,3797,4010,4127,4604,4606,4777],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-9329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-mark-scandrette","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-authority","tax_ctp_tags-conflict","tax_ctp_tags-confrontation","tax_ctp_tags-discouragement","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-healing","tax_ctp_tags-pastor","tax_ctp_tags-pastors-role","tax_ctp_tags-reconciliation"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nAuthority Relocation - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In my late twenties I made a shift from pastoring a mid-sized congregation in Minnesota to planting a church in the heart of San Francisco. 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