Appreciating Pastors We Have Known

Elders, family and church leaders lift a prayer of affirmation on Mike Miller (with staff), installed as Lead Pastor of Living Hope Church, Elk Grove Village, IL, April 2024.

by Michael Edgar Myers
Founding Artistic Director

Growing up where and when I did, we did not have pastors in our church.

We did, but we didn’t.

Whereas “pastor” is a commonplace term today, in my youth its synonyms were wide-ranging with historical cultural importance (to be outlined at another time).  We had “preachers” and “parsons,” “ministers” and “reverends” – especially Ministers and Revs – but, yes, we had us no pastors. We had us no “pastors” to pray.
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Yet, to borrow from Romeo’s adoration of Juliet (a Shakespearean connection we’ll occasionally adapt), “pastor” by any other name can still be a rose in a community. 

Or a thorn.

These are among the thoughts that percolated over our prayer and coffee conversations during Pastor Appreciation Month. The occasion allowed us as Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries to reflect on clergy who have influenced our lives as we embark upon our 30th year of service.

When I talk of “pastors,” I refer to a person who presides over a congregation of Protestant Christ-followers. This is in contrast to clergy who embrace Catholicism, which has more standardized appellations (as our friend Father Dimitri Sala can better explain).

READING FOR THE CURIOUS: “The Stained-Glass Curtain: Crossing the Evangelical-Catholic Divide to Find Our Common Heritage” by Fr. Dimitri Sala

In either spiritual realm, however, leading a congregation is not to be taken lightly – by officiant or followers.  A pastor’s effectiveness is commonly measured by the quality of sermon presentation over content which New Testament church leaders warned against.  “Not everyone should presume to teach,” says James.  “Watch out for false prophets,” says Peter. “Test every spirit,” Paul writes. 

In our theater missionary travels and recalling church life before establishing a journey with Christ, we have experienced the good and the bad of individuals with “Pastor” in their title. We have sat through articulate, poetic, entertaining Services of Worship and left adapting a Tina Turner riff: “What’s Christ got to do with it?”

Like you, perhaps, we have been shocked and saddened when pastors we have admired have fallen victim to human temptations -- the stuff of “Julius Caesar” character assassination: “The evil that pastors do makes headlines,” says Brutus the Anchor or Elder. “The good is oft’ interred with their bones.”

Whether encountering theological or theoretical preaching, KIT has been inspired to more deeply investigate The Word to strengthen us for ministry assignments. For these circumstances, we give thanks for “we have not come to bury pastors, but to praise them.”

Mike and Vikki share a moment with Pastor Norm and his wife, Bev, at the Anderson's 60th wedding anniversary. The Andersons passed away within 40 days of each other in 2023. They were celebrated in a joint memorial service.

Pastoral Rev-elations

My introduction to “pastor” and its difference from my childhood interpretations came in my mid-30s.  It coincided with my resurrected investigation of Christian faith which I accepted as a child, and then, not atypically, drifted from in the college years. 

My soul-caring elder sister introduced me to her church’s leader identified as the Senior Pastor.

I called him, “Rev. Anderson,” because “Reverend” is how our parents taught us to refer to the man who ran the church. “Reverend” was a title of honor and from my view, any silver-haired, 6-foot-4 man whose body and voice filled the pulpit deserved to be revered.

Reverend Anderson corrected me.

“I’m Pastor Norm,” said the soft-spoken Canadian, breaking another rule of my urban Hoosier childhood: calling adults by first name. “I prefer ‘pastor’ because I believe a preacher is supposed to pastor his flock like Jesus did.”

Pastor as in “The LORD is my shepherd.” As in, “I AM The Good Shepherd.” As in, “My sheep know my voice.”

READING FOR FUN: “Remembering Pastor Norm & Bev” a MEMo from Michael Edgar Myers

Thus began my relationship with the pastor who would lead my fiancée and me through pre-marital counseling; baptize her (in the immersion-by-choice tradition of John the Baptist); pass on a family bassinet for our newborn daughter; and introduce us to the unknown possibilities of theater as a Christian education tool, then teach us business aspects of ministry, thereby establishing the foundation for the not-for-profit organization KIT has become.

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Supporting Pastors from Converge

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Ministry Converge-gents

Pastor Norm was the first of countless numbers of “pastors” who have befriended us over three decades. Fifteen of the pastors were staff associates, interims and Lead Pastors who succeeded Pastor Norm in Elk Grove. They, like a majority of clergy we've worked with, are are part of a network called Converge Worldwide, whose collective mission is to establish Christ-following churches where needed.

“Feed my sheep.”

Converge’s roots are in Baptist theology. Specifically, Swedish Baptist, which is another reason my introduction to Pastor Norm was revelatory.  Our childhood church was a (one breath, please) “MissionaryBaptistChurch!” a mix of fire, brimstone, a pinch of organ and a King James chaser.  Were the Swedish Baptists different? You betcha.

But Christ was not.

I became involved with Converge in the late ‘90s, when to my surprise, I was asked to serve as a layperson (non-clergy) representative on a regional leadership board, the Midwest Baptist Conference. Midwest was a region of the Baptist General Conference.  Both were in  the process of, in marketing terms, “rebranding” to more effectively proclaim the gospel of Christ among people who were curious about Christ but skeptical of denominations.

Unlike other conferences, such as say, the Southern Baptist Convention, Converge is not a policy-making agency, which may be why its existence is not widely cited in day-to-day cultural conversations about Christianity. Though its roots are Swedish, Converge’s membership includes over 1,400 churches in the United States and 183 missionaries in 36 countries that reflect the multicultural vision of Revelation. Congregations may be predominately Anglo, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Arabic, or a mixture.  It is not unusual for the Lead Pastor to be of a different ethnicity than most of the flock.

“I have sheep that are not of this pen…There shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

FOR THE CURIOUS READER: “Who is Converge?” by Michael Smith

Despite its numbers, rarely is a Converge pastor seen interviewed or quoted about a headline-grabbing event. Such social commentaries can undermine the role of pastors, the public perception of what a pastor is, and the pastor’s responsibility to evangelize (a story to come). This is not to infer that individual churches and pastors are not engaged in addressing news-making issues.  The approach of individual pastors and congregations is autonomous, which has enabled Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries to partner with pastors to broach difficult topics through a scene or music experience.

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The Pastors in The Neighborhood

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Two Denominations and Beyond...

KIT has also been honored to serve non-Baptist congregations – Lutheran, Episcopalian, African-Methodist – where the clergy leader is called Reverend, or wait for it, female.   We’ve even engaged with Catholic and Messianic Christian church leaders, all of whom have fed us creatively and theologically, keeping us accountable to the motto they encouraged us to create:  “The best script is Scripture.”

They have enabled us to write scripts that unpack the positive and negative the influence of Christianity in U.S. history; create characters of depth who struggle with issues that complement a sermon; and develop theater-based training workshops for Bible study and leadership communication.

We are thankful for the Christ-following leaders whose messages and methods led us to become theater missionaries and share Christ’s good news gospel among those who have been in churches yes, but also, those who may not go into a church building, and who are open to being influenced by a pastor.

And As I Close...

Using Pastor Appreciation Month as a launch, we’ll continue sharing pastoral highlights as memories, in script and in performance, along with ideas to for pastors to grow as leaders and for congregants to encourage them as well.
In closing, we offer scripted prompts to uplift a pastor, especially in times as these where clergy are spoken to and about without reverence.  Again, we borrow from Shakespeare, this, a greeting from “Twelfth Night,” which according to tradition marks when the Wise Men arrived to see the Christ.

“I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks; and ever thanks.”

Which is The Bard’s version of Paul telling the Thessalonian church and ours: “Give thanks (for pastors) in all circumstances…”
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Whether it’s October or not.