Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel
FTE Congregational Partner
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Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel
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I think people of all ages are asking life questions, and those are questions that we explore together in the church. ‘What is the purpose of my life? Where do I find ultimate meaning?’ We need to bring together a variety of ages of people and life experiences to say, ‘This is where I have found meaning. This is where I have found hope. This is where I have found life.”
That requires strong leadership. And that is one of my concerns for the church, because I am not sure how well we are teaching people how to be to leaders. We live in a society where we’re just confronted all the time by lies and wanting to cover up things. And without the church helping us to wrestle with some of the important questions, I don’t know what kind of depth or direction people have in their lives.
And so, for me, from the time we baptize a child I feel like we own the responsibility for them as part of the church. It’s our responsibility to nurture them and to look at the gifts that they bring. And then to nurture those children all throughout their life cycle and even to look for the gifts in those who are at the end of their time on earth. Everyone still has something to contribute to the life and ministry of the church. That’s one of the reasons why I love being a pastor.
Your calling may be to be a pastor, but some people are called to be excellent Sunday school teachers or superb youth group advisers. Everybody in the church has a call to something. What is it, and what has God gifted you with to live out that call?
The congregation is the place where these important questions are raised…the congregation affirms gifts, and provides opportunities to people to live out those gifts, and those dreams.