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Question-Answer Time Helps Connect Pastors, Congregation
ROCHESTER, NY (May 30, 2008) – Pastors sometimes are accused of presenting answers to questions that the congregation is not asking. The leadership at Artisan Covenant Church is not in that group.
About four times a year, the pastors devote time normally set aside for the sermon to answering questions submitted by members and visitors. “We have new people every single week,” says Jason Condon, one of the pastors. “It’s always amazing how much the new people say they appreciate the opportunity to ask questions. Everyone really seems to enjoy the fact that they have real access to the pastors.”
Generally, two-thirds of the questions relate to a recent sermon series - the remaining questions focus on other themes, says Condon. Some of the questions are submitted in advance of the Sunday service, but others may be raised that day.
This past Sunday, some of the congregation members asked about more specific ways they could live out the themes of the recent series, “Walk the Line.” The series focused on living the tensions between silence and violence, sacred and secular, and pleasure and pain.
The questions also are beneficial to the staff. Condon says the recent questions were a reminder to make sure future sermons included more detailed applications.
The special Sundays also help the staff get a better sense of “the pulse of the church,” Condon says. There rarely are surprises, however, because most issues are discussed during monthly meetings.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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