For my blog the last four weeks I have been examining the Pastor’s code of ethics and covenant. Every profession has some ethical standards, but those of a pastor are necessarily different. We have examined the preamble and the first five covenants. You can see them by clicking one of the links listed on the right side of this page. This week let’s think about the sixth and seventh covenants.
- I will recognize my primary obligation to the church or employing group to which I have been called and will accept added responsibilities only if they do not interfere with the overall effectiveness of my ministry.
This covenant is a great reminder that a pastor’s church is the primary responsibility of the pastor. Too often well-meaning pastors with good intentions have taken on good projects and neglected their church in the process. I certainly see the temptation. Pastors are regularly asked to help with many good things. Some of those good are important to do; being seen in the community is helpful. Living as a servant is as important for a pastor as it is for anyone else. At a certain level these things will make a pastor’s ministry more effective. However when then begin to interfere with church obligations then they become a problem.
- I will personally and publicly support my colleagues who experience discrimination on the basis of gender, race, age, marital status, national origin, physical impairment, or disability.
I have not known a pastor who has experienced discrimination on the basis of any of these things. It is a good covenant and reminder that we are all created in God’s image and regardless of any of these classifications we stand equal at the foot of the cross. In my experience in the church these are things we stand for and therefore we discrimination in the church is real. I know a generation ago in our own country this would not be the case. So this covenant is a good reminder that in the church we would not stand for discrimination.
