Wednesday, May 09, 2012

(This may be a bit childish, you can always go someplace else.)

I received what may be my last rejection letter from a congregation.  When do I decide that the Church just does not want me?  I seem to be getting plenty of signs.  I am so tired of the whole thing.  I have waited for over a year for something to rear its head, and when something seems to be good, it collapses.  Am I really that bad?  I must be a horrible person.  I look at others, and they have congregations.  Why can't I seem to find one?

Well, I am pretty much pitching it.   I am not sure what I will do, but whatever it is, it is not going to be in a church.  And the church that sent me the rejection letter.  You can wait another 2 years until you find someone. If you find someone at all.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think the church is ready for you. Like everything else today, the church is too political, and you're too genuine. If I were you I'd get the hell out. (If nothing else, you'd make an awesome bartender, and the tips can be great!)

Paul Brownsey said...

I'm a sympathetic reader in Scotland.

I find myself wondering whether your rejections have anything to do with the fact that your blog is publicly accessible, which means that appointing committees can read it. And in that case, I'm wondering whether, even if the congregation is gay-friendly, the committee, though impressed by your excellent sermons, might be given cause to hesitate by your pin-ups, pretty innocuous though they are. If a candidate were straight and the appointing committee found he'd posted comparable picture of women on his site, I surmise that that might make them hesitate. I'm not saying they would be justified in their response - I don't know what I think about that - but at the least it does seem to be handing them a weapon. In general, I guess that if they have to choose between a minister who posts pin-ups and one who doesn't, they'll usually go for the latter. Mightn't they think, "Well, if he did misbehave, we'd be blamed for not regarding pin-ups on his blog as a warning sign"?

Sorry if this is discouraging.

Good luck,

Paul Brownsey

Cubby said...

You're not a horrible person. Don't think like that.

Many people have spent years looking. You are not alone.

Sending you big hugs...