The Pastor’s Update:#9
Do I Ask My Archbishop If My Time For A New Pastoral Assignment Has Come?
I've been thinking about my time as a pastor at St. Sarkis church, which began in 2005. I started reflecting when I saw the names of the graduates we will be celebrating this Sunday as part of our "Sunday of Graduates” tradition. It's a way for us to bless and honor our community's high school and college graduates. It struck me that when I first started serving this community, most of the graduates we'll be honoring this Sunday hadn't even been born yet. I had the privilege of officiating the weddings of most of their parents and baptizing most of them as babies. And now, they are young adults ready to embrace the next chapter in their lives.
The reflection became much more personal when I looked at the past 19 years as periods and blocks of time in my life. As a newly appointed pastor, my journey started with the mindset of, "Am I good enough?" I was young and inexperienced, and pastoring St. Sarkis was a huge responsibility. I felt that I needed more education on the one hand, and creating new programs and events felt like the right step at that time. I pursued a graduate degree in pastoral theology while my wife, Annie, and I worked on creating new programs such as summer camp and the Young Adults Bible study. The administrative goal of the church at that time was to pay off the mortgage, which was a big burden on the community. I remember the Mortgage Burning celebration and the relief that our community felt. Annie and I became parents during that time, and our individual responsibilities increased. I felt that I needed more education and training, so I returned to school and continued introducing new initiatives in our parish. We formed the youth group "Connect" and spent hours cultivating the minds and souls of the youth of our community. In 2014, we started recording weekly podcasts, and in 2015, we mobilized the community for the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. 2016-2019 became the peak years in terms of engagement and participation. Those years had the highest number of participants in our Saturday and Sunday Schools and Summer Camp. We felt our space was insufficient to hold us, and expansion plans were created. Salt & Light Youth ministry was inaugurated in our parish and later became a Prelacy program. We were riding high on the wave of success. Then came the pandemic of 2020, and that wave crashed. Our spirits were also crushed as we lost Artsakh and faced the crisis that continues to this day in Armenia. Our parish's recovery from the apathy that the aforementioned events created has been a challenging journey.
As I reflect on the future direction of our parish, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a parishioner as we came out of the pandemic. They had stopped attending church and had developed a habit of hiking in a nearby park on Sundays. They found solace and rejuvenation in these walks. They also mentioned that they would occasionally listen to the live stream of our Badarak if they had good internet service. This feedback made me question our approach. When I shared my concerns with a senior parish member, I was told that our problem is that we don’t have a challenge for our community. If we create a new project or have a mortgage to pay, people will feel more excited to join and participate. I have to confess that I spent considerable time thinking about that idea and learned that I had been running with that mindset all my life. Every degree that I pursued was a challenge that I had to overcome. Every event or program we implemented in our parish was a challenge that needed a solution. The competitive mindset was driving us. The go-get-it-done mindset, which would make us think, “ok, what’s next?” was the key player in our mode of operation, and when you get to a place where parishioners (members who were instrumental in building our current sanctuary) tell you that they prefer their walk in the park or their children’s sports involvement over church attendance, what do you do? As a pastor, do I think that we need to start a new and grandiose project to keep parishioners engaged? Do I bombard the parish with new initiatives to keep them engaged, or do I ask my Archbishop if my time for a new pastoral assignment has come?
None of the above.
My approach is different. I seek answers by deeply contemplating my vocation as a pastor. Christ, our eternal teacher, has provided a clear framework for our pastoral ministry. On the one hand, He encouraged us to seek out every lost sheep and invite them back to the family of faith. On the other hand, He instructed us to shake the dust off our feet when leaving a home or town that did not accept our invitation. As individuals, we make personal choices and are responsible for them. Christ never told us to make the spread of His word entertaining to attract people. He said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them." The invitation to join remains open to all, but numbers do not indicate success. The church cannot be part of the competitive American mindset, emphasizing constant enthusiasm and action. We have to focus on our spiritual growth because we have souls. Euphoric feelings are based on hormones, but we cannot let feelings run our lives. We need to nurture our souls with prayer, worship, contemplation, and observing a day when we stop working and contemplate the work of God. The church is a harbor of peace that provides a sense of presence and grounding to nurture our souls. And I, as your pastor, will always be there to walk with you during the joyous and challenging times of your journey.
The reflection became much more personal when I looked at the past 19 years as periods and blocks of time in my life. As a newly appointed pastor, my journey started with the mindset of, "Am I good enough?" I was young and inexperienced, and pastoring St. Sarkis was a huge responsibility. I felt that I needed more education on the one hand, and creating new programs and events felt like the right step at that time. I pursued a graduate degree in pastoral theology while my wife, Annie, and I worked on creating new programs such as summer camp and the Young Adults Bible study. The administrative goal of the church at that time was to pay off the mortgage, which was a big burden on the community. I remember the Mortgage Burning celebration and the relief that our community felt. Annie and I became parents during that time, and our individual responsibilities increased. I felt that I needed more education and training, so I returned to school and continued introducing new initiatives in our parish. We formed the youth group "Connect" and spent hours cultivating the minds and souls of the youth of our community. In 2014, we started recording weekly podcasts, and in 2015, we mobilized the community for the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. 2016-2019 became the peak years in terms of engagement and participation. Those years had the highest number of participants in our Saturday and Sunday Schools and Summer Camp. We felt our space was insufficient to hold us, and expansion plans were created. Salt & Light Youth ministry was inaugurated in our parish and later became a Prelacy program. We were riding high on the wave of success. Then came the pandemic of 2020, and that wave crashed. Our spirits were also crushed as we lost Artsakh and faced the crisis that continues to this day in Armenia. Our parish's recovery from the apathy that the aforementioned events created has been a challenging journey.
As I reflect on the future direction of our parish, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a parishioner as we came out of the pandemic. They had stopped attending church and had developed a habit of hiking in a nearby park on Sundays. They found solace and rejuvenation in these walks. They also mentioned that they would occasionally listen to the live stream of our Badarak if they had good internet service. This feedback made me question our approach. When I shared my concerns with a senior parish member, I was told that our problem is that we don’t have a challenge for our community. If we create a new project or have a mortgage to pay, people will feel more excited to join and participate. I have to confess that I spent considerable time thinking about that idea and learned that I had been running with that mindset all my life. Every degree that I pursued was a challenge that I had to overcome. Every event or program we implemented in our parish was a challenge that needed a solution. The competitive mindset was driving us. The go-get-it-done mindset, which would make us think, “ok, what’s next?” was the key player in our mode of operation, and when you get to a place where parishioners (members who were instrumental in building our current sanctuary) tell you that they prefer their walk in the park or their children’s sports involvement over church attendance, what do you do? As a pastor, do I think that we need to start a new and grandiose project to keep parishioners engaged? Do I bombard the parish with new initiatives to keep them engaged, or do I ask my Archbishop if my time for a new pastoral assignment has come?
None of the above.
My approach is different. I seek answers by deeply contemplating my vocation as a pastor. Christ, our eternal teacher, has provided a clear framework for our pastoral ministry. On the one hand, He encouraged us to seek out every lost sheep and invite them back to the family of faith. On the other hand, He instructed us to shake the dust off our feet when leaving a home or town that did not accept our invitation. As individuals, we make personal choices and are responsible for them. Christ never told us to make the spread of His word entertaining to attract people. He said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them." The invitation to join remains open to all, but numbers do not indicate success. The church cannot be part of the competitive American mindset, emphasizing constant enthusiasm and action. We have to focus on our spiritual growth because we have souls. Euphoric feelings are based on hormones, but we cannot let feelings run our lives. We need to nurture our souls with prayer, worship, contemplation, and observing a day when we stop working and contemplate the work of God. The church is a harbor of peace that provides a sense of presence and grounding to nurture our souls. And I, as your pastor, will always be there to walk with you during the joyous and challenging times of your journey.
The Word of God
This Sunday, we read from the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew about the time when the Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples plucking heads of wheat to eat on the Sabbath. They asked Jesus to answer for this violation. Jesus presented two cases of “blameless violations” from the Scriptures and said, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:7-8). According to the Orthodox Study Bible, “As the Author of the Law, Jesus is Lord over all of it. As Lord, He teaches that mercy takes precedence over regulations, ordinances, and ritualistic observances” (Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology).
Prayerfully,
This Sunday, we read from the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew about the time when the Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples plucking heads of wheat to eat on the Sabbath. They asked Jesus to answer for this violation. Jesus presented two cases of “blameless violations” from the Scriptures and said, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:7-8). According to the Orthodox Study Bible, “As the Author of the Law, Jesus is Lord over all of it. As Lord, He teaches that mercy takes precedence over regulations, ordinances, and ritualistic observances” (Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology).
Prayerfully,
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