Have you hugged your pastor today?

So asks a Christianity Today article all about National Clergy Appreciation Day and/or Month. Well, I’m not over-sure about the hugging or indeed about having special days for every sentiment under the sun, but in this case the cause is a good one.

But not one, I suspect, being celebrated at this church (Warning: the link includes a graphic description of earlobe twisting):

“The pastor of a Charlotte Harbor church had 16 church members booted from a service after they allegedly refused to stop singing and let the clergyman preach.”

(Thanks to Mr Barry.)

Meanwhile at the Recusant Rector‘s parish attempts to encourage all member ministry are falling upon deaf ears:

“I wrote an article for St Barbara’s parish magazine that was utterly, banally (sp?) anodyne. It said nothing new, radical or even meaningful. If we limit ourselves, I opined, to thinking that ministry is only supplied by dog-collared people like me, then we are seriously limiting ourselves.
…

Two days after the article came out the Churchwarden was bearded in church after the morning eucharist. “What is this about Recusant Rector refusing to do his priestly ministry any more?” “Why is RR saying that we have to do the priest’s work?” “Why are we paying the diocese all that money for RR is we’re going to end up doing his job? “What is RR for any way?”

(Can I just say, whilst I’m here, that the Recusancy in the Rectory blog really is very very good. Have a look over the archives if you have a bit of time to do so. He doesn’t update that regularly, but when he does it is well worth reading.)

So, the moral of today’s post? Be nice to clergy and don’t try to drown out their sermons. Oh, and ear twisting = bad.