The Role of the Pastor

I was in Petco on Saturday getting a few things for Angelo, my new Tortoise, when one of my parishioners called me with troubling news. Apparently I looked devastated, as the clerk asked if it was a hard conversation. I was taken aback by my response that I'm a pastor so all of the calls I get are hard.

But its true. People don't call the pastor when things are going well. I rarely get an office visit for anything short of dramatic changes or huge traumatic life issues. I wish that pastors could be more involved in the totality of people's lives and not just the ugly, dramatic moments.