The Augustana Ministerium Weblog

Seelsorger is a German word which is used as a synonym for Pastor.  It means “curer of souls,” that is one who cares for and comforts the soul.  The following newsletter article, which I initially wrote for the July-August “Holy Cross Messenger,” reflects how God’s intended purpose for individuals and congregation alike can be thwarted by presumably well-meaning parishioners and pastors who ignore the divine shepherd-sheep relationship within a congregation.

A fellow pastor and I were talking recently at breakfast.  We were attending the same meeting later that morning, a continuation from the day before.  The topic of our conversation at one point turned to a project he and his wife are working on to provide a place of retreat for pastors and their wives.  A place away from the pressures of the parish, and yet a place where spiritual care will be provided for the Shepherd who himself has no Shepherd to whom he can turn.  This was by no means a mere whim on his part, as I learned upon my return home, finding in my email a few days later a paper he promised to send me.  It was titled: “Who Shepherds the Shepherds?” He had written it for one of his seminary professors in a graduate level class a few years back.  As I read through the paper I was pleased with this confessional pastor’s understanding of the situation, and I pray his project will become a reality in the near future, for the sake of the Church.  

I bring this up to introduce a topic I would like to address this month: “Pastoral Care.”  No, it is not about or for me.  It is about you, you and your fellow sheep at Holy Cross.  You see, in reading his paper, one sentence in particular caught my eye about life in the parish: “Sheep under the care of a pastor are not free to place themselves under the care of another pastor without the blessing and consent of the first pastor.”  That raises three questions: What does this mean?  Why does he say this?  What are the implications today?

What does this mean?  When Jesus speaks about those who follow Him, as He does in John 10, He is clear in His claim upon them: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (27).  Sheep in Holy Writ are mentioned in numerous figures of speech; and their patience (Jer. 11:19; Isa. 53:7) and stupidity (Num. 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Isa. 53:6) were proverbial.  As such, some may object to Jesus calling them sheep, but it does not change the fact that He does so, and it means something important to you.  First, you are not your own, but you belong to Him, for He purchased you with His shed blood and marked you with His holy name in Baptism.  Second, third, and fourth, because you are His purchased possession, you hear His voice … He learns to know you personally … and you follow Him as a way of life—and all this happens in the here and now.  That’s right, all three verbs are present tense.  Because all verbs are true in the here and now, it means that what the pastor writes— “Sheep under the care of a pastor are not free to place themselves under the care of another pastor without the blessing and consent of the first pastor,” which finds it authority in Jesus’ words to His apostles: “He who hears you, hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16)―is most certainly true.  Pastors, “regularly called” (AC XIV) according to the rite, serve in the stead and place of Christ to the congregation, and those who are sheep under his care in that place hear and follow Jesus by listening to and heeding His servant’s teaching, for he comes and speaks in the place and stead of Christ to His people.   To suggest “sheep” are “free” agents in the matters of pastoral care is to ignore (not heed) Jesus’ serious warning!

Why does he say this?  The pastor who wrote this revealing sentence has, perhaps unwittingly,  hit upon a particularly important principle that seems to have been all but lost in the last century or two.  Pastoral care requires pastoral oversight, and oversight means: “watchful and responsible care.”  For a “sheep under the care of a pastor” to turn to “another pastor without the blessing and consent of the first pastor” for pastoral care is to short circuit Christ’s intended way, for by design none can know the “sheep”―nor their need―but their own shepherd, the one whom God has placed over them through the divine call of the congregation to serve in the stead and place of Christ.  This pastor’s revealing sentence has serious implications for pastor and people in every generation.  

What are the implications today?  Perhaps a lengthy discussion,  can be undertaken later, but in summary I place these thoughts before you for your consideration.  The body of Christ is made up of many members, and though “all the members do not have the same function,” we are “one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:4f).  Ignoring or abusing either the “function” we serve or “one another” hurts the whole body!  And when the whole body hurts, every member of the body feels it.  When pastors, while seeking to carry out their God-given functions within the body toward each and every member of the body, are short circuited by a member who seeks pastoral care from another without the blessing and consent of his or her pastor, important matters pertinent to the spiritual well being of the members, and thus also the body, are not addressed.  Still unresolved, the matter will continue to trouble the congregation.

Confession by those who have violated this important principle and absolution from their pastor can go a long way in restoring health and vitality to the individual and body alike.  No sweeter words are there than when *my* shepherd says to me: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them.”  Your sins are forgiven, Little Lamb.

Rev. Bruce G. Ley

Superintendent, The Augustana Ministerium