With Eyes Lifted Up: The Pastor as Pray-er
“Pray-ers.” It is who we are as pastors. Yes, praying is what we do as pastors: we are called to preach, to teach, to listen, to give counsel, to plan, to direct, to visit the sick, and to pray. We pray not because it is our duty; we pray because “pray-ers” is who we are. Humans pray…disciples of Jesus pray…Christian pastors pray, not because we must, but because we cannot imagine any other way to be. Praying is not only at the heart of the pastoral vocation, it is at the heart of the pastoral identity. Thus the theme of this year’s Pastors’ Conference: The Pastor as Pray-er.
Marva Dawn will take us into the struggle of being pray-ers in the broken world, leading us, as she is uniquely qualified to do, through four Psalms of Lament. She will help us understand what lament is and is not, and how it is through such praying that we move from fear and despair to faith and hope.
Bruce Hindmarsh will work with the tensions we pray-ers experience around the act of praying, the tension between Martha and Mary, the “mixed-life” of both contemplation and activity, looking to three very busy pastors of the past: Bernard of Clairvaux, Teresa of Avila and Richard Baxter.
Darrell Johnson will walk us through a three-part exposition of John 17, wherein Jesus the Great Pray-er most fully opens his heart to his Father, intentionally doing so in our hearing so that we might enter into his praying. John 17 leads us into “The Conversation at the Centre of the Universe.” Darrell will also serve as the Conference Pastor, suggesting ways we can respond to what the Holy Spirit is doing for and among us as we worship, listen, study, pray and interact together.
Andrea Tisher returns to lead our worship times, helping us move into fresh places where we can be the pray-ers we were made and are being redeemed to be.
ABOUT THE IMAGE: “Self portrait” by Douglas Driediger is one of 52 works he painted last year, one each week. An exhibition of all 52 self portraits will show May 7–June 20 in the Lookout Gallery. The opening reception will be 4:30–7:30 on Wednesday, May 7 with the artist present.
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