In some ways, it seems obvious that ministers are called to work as educators, but it is important to make sure that we are aware of the ways in which function as educators. It's not just in teaching religious education classes, but in everything we do that we are functioning as educators.
And when I talk about being an educator, I'm not thinking of someone who is a static transmitter of information, but rather one who creates an environment in which people can learn. If our congregations do not function as communities of learners, then I believe that we are not being very effective in our work.
For me this week reinforced the idea that everything we do teaches some lesson or another. Or, even if it doesn't teach a lesson, that fact in itself is instructive.
I really want to bring to any congregation I serve the notion that we are hear to learn from one another--and that, as ministers, we are both teachers and learners engaged in a process of change that is, as a matter of faith, rooted in education at every step along the way.
