I realized today I've never lived through a church leadership change. I suppose sort of the one at OPAG but the Pastor who took over had already been on staff for 15 years and had been team leading, so it wasn't some sort of shake up. Behind the scenes I'm sure there were issues but my church didn't mutate out from under me.
A few weeks ago, our Spanish pastor stepped down and let someone he was grooming to take over in another year or so go ahead and take the helm now. I think there was some conflict in style and speed of change. I'm anxious now.
The new pastor is very personable and nice as a person, it's not that. He seems to want to operate in a more old school church style, taking you back to the 1980s maybe. Musically when he sings, it's usually something from that era. His style is more emotional and you didn't really get it if you didn't come forward. (implied not stated). He also veers off of his main point pretty much every week for about 15 minutes or more.
There's nothing I can do about this. I'm not in leadership, no one wants my opinion. It's something I have to adjust too. I guess one thing that has occurred is I've learned that I like an scholarly approach to scripture and learning, not an emotional one. So I will have to learn more about myself through this process and accept that without realizing it, I had a church style.
Amen. Your preferences are invisible and unknowable until they're violated. Oh, how I'm so familiar with my preferences now. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteChanges are always a little rough. I would think there would be a lot pressure on the new pastor.
ReplyDeleteYeah, dash and I have a church style as parents, and then we each have individual styles. I think we've found a church that is a pretty good blend of all of the styles we like.
ReplyDeleteI'm completely with you on the scholarly versus emotional approach. I know I should do better, but I have a difficult time paying attention in services where the speaker relies mainly on emotion.
ReplyDeleteI think, though, that sometimes the minister who takes the approach that violates our natural tendencies can encourage us to grow in an area of our spirituality that might be otherwise stagnant. At least I convince myself of that when I sit through an overly emotional service.
I hope that you're able to continue to receive what you need spiritually in spite up (or due to) the change in style.