What I Look for in a Pastor

When I first moved to the area, I started attending a Pentecostal Church (I'm a lapsed Episcopalian, lapsed due to the politicization of the American Anglican church).

The pastor was fiery and quite theatrical. There were a lot of histrionics in the congregation which threw me at first, but I absorbed with wry amusement as the weeks progressed.

Things were rotten in the state of Denmark, however, as it became clear that this enormous church didn't publish its books, discouraged any questions from the laity, and was staffed almost exclusively by the pastor's close relatives. You could not get an appointment to see him---that wasn't allowed.

I bounced around a couple of churches after that, ranging from flipflop to redneck. Nothing really jelled.

A little over a year ago, I darkened the door of the church almost literally in my back yard, a Methodist church. Knowing Dubya's a Methodist, I figured I'd give it a try.

The pastors there vary in style, but I found a refreshing devotion to scripture and to face-to-face, one-on-one ministry. Every Sunday we get a sermon which is grounded in the story of the Bible, not just quotes threaded together to suit the pastor's purpose that week.

It caused me to reflect on what I look for in a pastor:

1. Accessibility
2. Humility
3. Wisdom
4. Humanity
5. Passion
6. Joy

The last one I've found to be very important, because as entertaining as the fire-and-brimstone preachers are, I don't much buy into the white knuckle Christianity they espouse.

Everyone's got different preferences, but I desperately want Church time to be a quiet, reflective time, not a rally.

There's enough noise in my life---I need some quiet to hear the signal.