Hope Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, IA

Clergy Unions

Every so often at clergy meetings someone will bring up the idea that pastors should join a union. Unions have brought the working person many benefits, but I see quite a few problems with ministers in unions.

First of all, which union would we join? Some ministers picture themselves as deep thinkers, mining the treasures buried in Scripture; the United Mine Workers might work for them. I know some who would qualify for the Oil and Gas Workers of America. A lot of us could even join the Actors Guild. But there are too many of us who don�t fit anywhere, and I don�t like the idea of forming a new union. For one thing, what would we call it, the Society of American Preachers (SAPS)? The Federation of Average Theologians (FAT)? How would you like to be elected president of this union and forever be known as the F.A.T Head?

Another problem is that pastors are both labor and management. We can labor a point better than most people. We toil on texts, slave over schedules, and work on agendas. We polish our images, oil squeaky wheels, hammer out differences, bolt long meetings, lay theological foundations, and often dig holes we can�t get out of. We are definitely labor.

Yet we�re also management. We manage to get all the credit when things go well and all the blame when they don�t. We manage to appear to work only one day a week. And we manage to always remain charming, intelligent, saintly, and humble. We definitely are skilled management.

The Social Security rules say we are self-employed. When it comes to contract time, who would we fight with - ourselves? Some people say we�re underemployed. �You�ve got a great thing going,� they remark, �You should draw as little attention to yourself as possible!�

Also, one of the main things that unions have to do from time to time is strike. This would create a huge problem for pastors - who do we picket? When I look around me I don�t see anyone. There�s just me here in my study, and Kris is in her office. Somehow I don�t think picketing Kris would be very productive. I suppose I could aim my strike at the Church Council, but I have a feeling they might strike me right back, in more ways than one!

I suppose I could refuse to preach on Sundays. Unfortunately, I knew a pastor who tried that once. She announced what she was going to do one Sunday, and the congregation stood up and cheered! After the service the president of the congregation told her that he had been authorized to double her salary and benefits if she would keep her promise! Talk about an unfair strike breaking technique!

A clergy union�s goals would have to be different from other unions. For instance, the teacher�s union wants to eliminate over-crowded classes. We long for over-crowding. The Teamsters want more sick days for union members. We pray for fewer days sick for our members. The steel workers want profit sharing. We don�t want our organization to make a profit. The postal workers want more time off. We just want more time.

No, I think this is an idea whose time has not yet come. Personally, I�ve always felt like the Psalm writer who said: �I have been young and now I am old, (well, sort of middle aged anyway), yet I have not seen the righteous hunger nor his seed go begging.� In other words, God�s doing a pretty good job taking care of me. I think things work out a whole lot better for me when I just leave things in his hands.

During the rest of this Season of Pentecost we�ll continue to see how at times it�s hard to leave things in God�s hands. It was incredibly hard for the disciples as they faced the fact that Jesus� plans for them were a lot different than what they thought. Yet we also see that once they learned to trust his way of doing things they were able to change the world.

Please come and hear this message that changes the world and changes our lives! Also, gather your courage and take the time to invite family and friends to join us in this celebration of God�s love!

In Christ�s Name,
Pastor Dan