ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN PASTORAL THEOLOGY & PRACTICE LPTP-36 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 www.captionfirst.com *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> NICK: Thank you for that question, David. We also have dozens of Lutheran schools in the Pacific southwest. You asked about how a pastor ministers to families of the school. I guess I have a similar question. What is the pastor's role among the children of the school on a daily basis? >> PROF. SENKBEIL: Well, certainly, Nick, they would not want to be neglected in terms of pastoral care. After all, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not stop them, for such is the kingdom of God." And one must always remember as a pastor that you have responsibility not just to the big people but to the little people, too. And what a marvelous opportunity, if your congregation has a parish school, to be in daily contact with the children just to be among them in a normal way, to be visible is part of that, not to hide in your office or to be off somewhere else but to be routinely and regularly visible as a pastor, a shepherd of the flock, also concerned about them no matter how young they might be. Now, there are formal ways that this can be done. In the school which I was privileged to serve as part of my parish in Wisconsin, it was our practice routinely every week to, as pastors, that one of us would be in each classroom both to teach and also to answer questions. And, while we might be interested in teaching one article of the Christian faith, one chief part of the Christian doctrine, we would also handle questions that arise as part of the ordinary conversation that happens in a classroom. And teachers and students alike all look forward eagerly to the visit of their pastor in the confines of their classroom. To regularly and routinely teach and preach in the context of a chapel of that school is important in chapel services. Not to delegate that to someone else because perhaps you think other duties that you have are more pressing. Here's a terrific responsibility. Here are members of your flock and their friends from the community who are gathered here for instruction in your school. And part of that would be an opportunity then to hear from the shepherd of the flock, to tend them and to care for them, as you do all the members of the congregation, in the public services of the church so you do also within this chapel service which is a public service of worship in the conversation. So, at every opportunity, you want to be pastor and shepherd to everyone, no matter how big, no matter how small. And children, the time that you spend with them is time well spent. Because these are their formative years. Impressions that are made then will serve them well as they grow to adulthood and as they go through that turbulent area of their adolescence. Sometimes you things that you say in the simplest way and the simplest level will be something that they recall in those trying times. So I commend that to you for your consideration and practice. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***