Coordinator Rev. Harold A. Winter
The Lunch Bunch gives the lie to the idea that we are in the ministry alone. As most of us are in solo pastorates, it is possible to lose sight of the bigger picture. In our work, in the ups and downs of life with a congregation, perspective can get distorted. The Peer Learning Group helps us connect with the broader kingdom of God.
Since I arrived in Classis Niagara in 2002, I have had opportunity to meet with other CRC pastors weekly. Our name comes from our weekly lunch gatherings for 1½ hours each Thursday starting at 12:30. Sometimes we just shoot the breeze together, other times we discuss congregational matters, or the latest denominational news. Often someone will say, “I just ran into this situation; how would you handle it?” As a rookie pastor these conversations have been valuable in forming habits and understanding the work and role of a pastor.
Each week, we also spend time in prayer. Sometimes it is brief, with only one person praying on our behalf; other times we spend a longer time in prayer, interceding for each other, our families, and our ministries. To worship God together, to affirm our faith together, to share each others’ burdens before the Lord are healthy exercises.
With the incentive of the SPE and the Lily Grant, we decided to build on this solid foundation and form a PLG. Up to this point, the group included mainly people from the eastern end of classis. The invitation went out to all the active pastors of classis – a possibility we have due to the relative small size of our classis in the Niagara Peninsula. Our main goals in our PLG are to continue to build up our relationships as colleagues and to intentionally discuss pastoral character, pastoral boundaries, and the spiritual disciplines. This has lead to 6 additional meetings and three retreats to meet our goals.
At our retreats and meetings we have hosted speakers who talked about maintaining appropriate boundaries in our relationships with individuals and in the responsibilities we take up in the church. We enjoyed several days with Dr. Cal VanReken reflecting on the call of the ten commandments upon pastors as we do our work. Our readings and book discussion has allowed us to reflect upon the various responsibilities of ministry, from preaching to pastoral identity. Our discussions have really stirred up some good personal reflections and stimulating conversations. Learning in a close-knit community allows the conversation to reflect the topics covered in the book as they relate to the character and personalities of the members of the group.
I know from reading other reports posted online and published elsewhere that the value of getting together with colleagues – brothers and sisters in the Lord – is impossible to calculate. That is our experience as well.
I know that our church order insists that the offices are equal in honour – yet my experience is that pastors are viewed differently than elders or deacons. Perhaps some of this arises from the calling of pastors from long distances, while most elders and deacons are called to office within their home communities. In the Niagara Peninsula, pastors in the CRC are often viewed differently than other Officebearers.
Gathering together as pastors and chaplains, we enjoy freedom to tease each other and joke around. Yet there is respect for one another. One colleague compared it to a band of brothers – the connection that grows between people who serve together through some tough experiences. That is how we experience it: we serve together, cooperate, hold each other accountable, and disciple each other. This is possible because we really do serve together – we work in close proximity, we know each others’ mountains and valleys, and we recognize the connections between our congregations and the work that we are doing.
The real value comes not from knowing each other as much as from being known by the other members of our group. We have openly shared struggles and weaknesses, times of temptation and the nature of temptations, as well as joys and milestones along the journey. This plays out in laughter, constructive critique, and intercessory prayer. We reap the benefit of such openness as we pray for each other and as we minister together.
You know when we saw the depth of the relationships most clearly?
At our June retreat, six months into our PLG, we gathered together for prayer. Usually in small groups you require a time of sharing before you intercede for one another. Not so at this retreat – we already knew the concern in each others’ congregations, each others’ families, and each others’ hearts. We know each other well enough to pray for each other and are committed to praying for each other in our individual regular devotions.
At one point last spring several of the pastors’ families were experiencing health problems which were discouraging. A colleague noted that it was spiritually draining. He challenged us to fast and pray for each other. Some of us kept a fast each Friday for several weeks, others have maintained a discipline of fasting each Friday throughout the summer and fall – allowing the hunger of our bodies to echo the hunger of our hearts for God’s presence and the Spirit’s power.
Praying and worshipping together, connects us with the church universal and with our Lord. Being in prayer and practising spiritual disciplines reminds us that the ministry does not belong to us alone. We serve together as part of the body of Christ. It is he who leads us, we serve in the power of his Spirit, it is his gospel we preach. By getting together as colleagues, studying and encouraging each other, we have enjoyed a broader view of the kingdom of God.
