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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3239 notes).

Note 3239 by UMNS on Oct. 17, 1996 at 15:33 Eastern (3365 characters).

SEARCH: Pastor, work, worship, Strengthening the Black Church,
Caldwell, seminary, ministry
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
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CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                525(10-21-31-71B){3239}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Oct. 17, 1996

Caldwell: pastor's job
more than leading worship

by Denise Stovall*

     HOUSTON (UMNS) -- The pastor of the largest African-American
church in United Methodism has some strong counsel for pastors who
think their only job is to lead congregational worship.
     "He or she is not just responsible for worship, but for
empowering people for the ministry," said the Rev. Kirbyjon
Caldwell, pastor of 9,000-member Windsor Village United Methodist
Church here.
     Speaking to a new churchwide committee on "Strengthening the
Black Church for the 21st Century," meeting here Oct. 9-10,
Caldwell suggested ways that African American United Methodists
can revitalize their churches.
     The first meeting of the committee was held at Windsor
Village Church and several mission sites where members explored
new programs of mission and economic development.
     Part of the problem with clergy who do not know what to do as
pastors lies with the seminaries, Caldwell said. Regardless of
denominational affiliation, he contends that most seminaries are
"operating in the 19th Century at best."
     "Many seminary graduates have no idea how to identify, train,
equip, encourage, evaluate and mobilize lay people for ministry,"
he said.
     "Some people think just because they are (seminary)
graduates, they are ready to pastor. It ain't necessarily so."
     Caldwell's definition of a pastor includes having a vision
for the church. "Obviously, the lay folk have to have some input,"
he continued, "but a smart pastor has to impart his or her vision
to the followers, and the followers can say, 'Look at what we've
done!'"
     While he does not approach everything from a business
perspective, Caldwell said having a graduate degree in business
has helped him in his career as a pastor.  Texas Monthly Magazine
recently cited him as "one of the most impressive, intriguing and
influential Texans of 1996."
     Caldwell expressed concern about seminary graduates who have
a superiority attitude toward pastors who have come through other
educational routes.  He cited Rudy and Juanita Rasmus, lay pastors
of St. John's United Methodist Church in Houston, winners of the
1996 Circuit Rider Award given by the United Methodist Publishing
House.
     Former members of Windsor Village, the couple turned a dying
church into a 1,900 member congregation in two years.  Caldwell
proudly said the Rasmuses are on the "cutting edge of ministry"
but are not ordained.
     "Pastors like Rudy and Juanita, who have never been to
seminary, are turning the community upside down," he exclaimed. 
"And this is happening not just in the black church, but with
people of every color.
     "I hope that one of the goals of this committee will be to
say,`How can the United Methodist Church address this serious
problem?'"
                              #  #  #

     * Stovall is associate editor of the United Methodist
Reporter newspaper, based in Dallas.

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