Maria Grace Reflection Paper 1

Gordon Lathrop: “The Pastor: A Spirituality”

1. Why did I choose this book?

I read The Pastor for the first time during my first

semester in seminary. I had just begun my Field Ed experience in

a Lutheran church. Coming from a Greek Orthodox background, I

was very interested in making a transition into the Lutheran

spirituality and worship. Many aspects of the liturgical ordo

were different from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Reading The

Pastor introduced me then to the language of Lutheran

spirituality and liturgy. It also gave me a way to understand

the pastor whom I assisted in my field ed church.

When that book appeared on the list of this course, I read

it again. This semester I have also taken two more courses on

Lutheran theology, Confessions and Luther’s Spirituality.

Additionally, I am taking a course in Lutheran Liturgy, in which

I read other books by the same author. I find his writing very

interesting and his ideas essentially Lutheran. I also like his

meditative style of writing. I wanted to read The Pastor again,

to see how it would affect me, in light of all the courses I

have been taking. Re-reading The Pastor this semester was a much

richer experience than the first time I read it. I had a better

appreciation of the the author’s language, a much deeper

understanding of his ideas, and better receptivity to his

intended message. I believe The Pastor is a book that any

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Gordon Lathrop: “The Pastor: A Spirituality”
pastor-in-formation must read again and again, as each time it

reveals new layers about the life of the pastor as a symbol and

as a person/servant of Christ. Also, The Pastor is a book that

must be read in small parts, something like Lectio Divina. The

author’s style begs for such reading, which is then both

pleasurable and illuminating.

2. What positions of worship are described by the author?

Gordon Lathrop is a Lutheran pastor and professor of

liturgical theology. He is also the author of a number of books

on Lutheran liturgy, symbology, worship and faith. In The Pastor

he describes the pastor as the servant of the Lord’s Supper.

Referring to the pastor as “the waiter“, he describes the

pastoral role and call as being firmly grounded in liturgy. For

the author, the liturgy is centered around the central symbols

or word and sacrament, which must be broken in order for the

love of God to be poured through them onto the assembly. The

liturgy follows an ordo that consists of four parts: gathering,

word, meal, and sending. A liturgy that does not follow this

ordo is not, according to the author, a complete worship

(Lutheran) service.

Worship, for Gordon Lathrop, is centripetal. The center is

Christ in the symbols of bread, wine, water and the word. The

pastor is there to break those symbols for the assembly. The

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Gordon Lathrop: “The Pastor: A Spirituality”
pastor—whom the author also describes as a broken symbol—sets

the table, serves the Supper, preaches the Word, baptizes with

water and Word, and prays with the assembly. The position of the

author is that the pastor becomes transparent and uninteresting,

in order to serve Christ and be for Christ, before the assembly.

Everything the pastor does—including his/her body langugage—

during worship serves Christ, worships Christ, praises Christ

and brings Christ to people. The pastor’s servanthood is the

pastor’s identity during worship, which brings the assembly

before Christ. The author is clear about the worship being not

about people, personalities, and preferences, but about Christ.

3. Do I agree or disagree with the author?

My roots are in Eastern Orthodoxy, which respects and

observes the same liturgical ordo for 2,000 years. I, therefore,

am familiar—and comfortable—with worship in which the pastor’s

personality disappears in order to serve God. Additionally,

throughout my life, I have also attended services in churches of

many different denominations, in many parts of the world, and

have observed a number of pastors, priests and ministers in

action. Even before I read Lathrop’s books on centripetal

worship, I was already aware—and weary—of the worship that is

centered on the pastor’s personality or on the preferences of

the assembly. Over the years I listened a number of sermons that

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Gordon Lathrop: “The Pastor: A Spirituality”
were “people centered“, observed pastors give sermons that

sounded more like motivational speeches or entertanment acts,

listened to Sunday messages filled with sound bites from popular

culture, attended worship services lacking centrality on symbols

of salvation in Christ. Even though the churches I am referring

here were Christian churches, Christ was missing from the

center.

I, therefore, agree with the author. A pastor is a symbol

that points to Christ. For that to happen, the pastor must

disappear as a personality, he/she must be broken in order for

the assembly to see Crhist through him/her. And worship not

centered in Christ is not a Christian worship; rather, it can be

a celebration of people getting together to celebrate a common

interest in themselves or in the person who stands behind the

pulpit. That is not worship. Worship of the Christian God, that

is.

4. How have I grown in understanding planning and leading

or participating in worship as a result of reading this book?

The Pastor gave me valuable insights into the deepest

layers of the call, the role, the meaning and the function of

the pastor as God’s servant. I also gained greater appreciation

for the pastor as a broken symbol. I found the chapter on

preaching very helpful, especially the last part, in which the

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Gordon Lathrop: “The Pastor: A Spirituality”
author is sharing personal thoughts about his own creative

process of preparing a sermon. I found helpful his concept of

learning the prayers by heart, not in order to repeat them by

rote memory, but in order for them to penetrate our inner life

and become part of our inner self. Everything the author writes

about preparing and performing liturgy is steeped in years of

experience, service and faith in the One whose love outpours

from the broken bread and the shared wine. As someone in the

beginning stages of my pastoral formation, I must say that

reading this book has been an experience of attending a service

offered by a pastor who lives out his call with devotion,

dedication and deep love for Christ. In this regard, this book

has deepened my appreciation for the the gifts of centripetal

worship offered by true servants of Christ, for our faith and

our relationship with the God we love and believe in. Thanks to

reading this book I am now even more sensitized to the dangers

of worship that takes us away from the Center, as well as to

ministers who serve their own selves. My eyes, ears and hearts

are open wider to to hear, observe and trust the pastors who

embody true servanthood, as the author so beautifully and

faithfully describes it.