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Blog Series on Pastoral Identity

February 2, 2015 Adam Walker Cleaveland

I’ve had a few different blog series here on Pomomusings over the years. I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to be able to bring together a wide variety of voices and share this space for some deep reflection on important topics. If you’re new to this blog, you might want to check out some of the past series I’ve had:

  • The Kingdom of God
  • Plurality 2.0
  • Reimagining Christianity

Over the next couple months, you’re going to be hearing from almost 30 people on the topic of pastoral identity.

I’m currently serving my fourth church (my 2nd as an ordained Presbyterian minister) and they’ve all had very different contexts (rural southern Idaho, San Francisco Bay area, southern Oregon and now Chicago). And while I know that I’ve made mistakes, learned, grown and changed throughout my ministry at each of the four churches, I think I’m still trying to figure out exactly what pastoral identity looks like for me.

Our church soloist wrote a letter to the staff back around Christmas, expressing how much she enjoyed and felt welcomed by our congregation. She wrote in her letter: “I knew as soon as I walked in and met Adam, that this was a different kind of church.” I know I’m not your typical Presbyterian pastor. But I believe that God has called me to the ministry, and so I need to figure out what my pastoral identity is going to be, as I continue to live into my calling.

I think more and more pastors in the 21st century church are asking this question about who the pastor should be in this new ecclesial era we find ourselves in. And yet – it’s not a new question, per se. Pastors have always wondered about their role in the church, in culture, in communities, and those questions continue today. I haven’t received or read all of the blog posts that will be shared here, but I can imagine that some of the questions that folks may choose to interact and engage with might be:

  • Who is the pastor in 2015?
  • Should a pastor be prophetic?
  • Should the pastor simply maintain status quo?
  • Should the pastor be more concerned about keeping the peace, rather than being prophetic and speaking truth to power?
  • How “real” or “transparent” can a pastor be with a congregation?
  • How should one’s understanding of their pastoral identity impact the way they live their lives? How should they live out that identity in new landscapes, like social media?

I’m sure there will be many more topics as well. I look forward to this exciting blog series, and hope that you will share these posts with others and come back here to participate in the conversation. Below you will find the schedule of posts for this series.

Pastoral Identity Blog Series Schedule

February 4: Jan Edmiston
February 6: Marci Glass
February 9: Katie Snipes Lancaster
February 11: Jake Myers
February 13: MaryAnn McKibben Dana
February 16: Elise Erikson Barrett
February 18: Rocky Supinger
February 20: Shannon Kershner
February 23: Kim Risedorph
February 25: Tony Hoshaw
February 27: Jess Hauser-Brydon

March 2: John Vest
March 4: Bromleigh McCleneghan
March 6: Chris Sohl
March 9: Greg Bolt
March 11: Emily Zeig Lindsay
March 13: David Lower
March 16: Ken Kovacs
March 20: Scott Clark
March 24: Mark Oestreicher
March 25: Mihee Kim-Kort
March 27: Tim Hughes
March 30: Jessica Gregory

April 2: Brian Ellison
April 9: Adam Walker Cleaveland

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Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Identity, Ministry, Pastoral Identity, Pastors, PC(USA)

Adam is an artist, entrepreneur, pastor, husband and father. He lives in Skokie, Illinois with his wife Sarah (who is also a pastor), their son Caleb, and their dog, Sadie. Read More…

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