Shaking the Pastor’s Hand
When I was growing up there was a distinct order to how the congregation exited the sanctuary at the end of the service. After the closing prayer—before anyone dared to sit down in their pews—the pastor would exit down the center aisle and take up his post at the exit. While the pastor was still in his landing pattern, the worship band would start to play. Only with the music playing were we allowed to relax.
After that, we’d grab our things and get in line to greet the pastor and shake his hand. We’d finally get some face time with the guy who we had just listened to for the better part of an hour.
The last two churches I attended were megachurches, and the closest I ever got to talking with the pastor was passing one of them in the hallway.
A recent Out of Ur post talks about the growing disconnect between the pastor and the congregation in multisite churches. The entire article is worth reading, but I’d like to just focus on a brief excerpt:
““I do miss having a pastor at the door shaking hands in the ‘check-out line,’” Lauren Green told Grossman. Green, a religion correspondent for Fox News, began attending Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City to hear Tim Keller preach. Keller doesn’t record his sermons to broadcast in other locations, but he scurries between several different sites in a grueling Sunday ritual that leaves him little time to interact with members and visitors. By contrast, Green and her family shared a close relationship with their long-time pastor when she was growing up in Minneapolis. But she acknowledges that this model appears to be a quaint and outdated today.”
I have to admit that I miss that “quaint and outdated” interaction with the pastor too. Frankly, I think it’s healthy for both the pastor and the congregation to have that meet and greet time. For the congregation it remind them that as much as they might respect their pastor, their pastor is a real person. Not a celebrity or a distant talking head.
Likewise, for the pastor, that end of the service ritual is a connection to the reality of why they preach: to transform the lives of their congregants.
Does your pastor still shake your hand before you leave? Is it easier or harder to get a chance to talk face to face with your pastor? Any other thoughts?
After reading this article I have to give God glory because in my church we are very blessed to have a close relationship with our pastor. He still visits the sick,goes to the hospital with parishoners having surgery (he & his wife are actually sitting with our family right now in an out patient surgey lobby), he recieves phone calls no matter what hour of the day, and I can honestly say he is my friend and family. Thank the good Lord that I am a 21 year old wife, pharmacy tech, and youth worker who is blessed to have the pastor I have….
That was an interesting article. As someone who has done alot of preaching in quite a few churches in the midwest, I appreciate meeting the people I have just spent the better part of an hour talking to. And i do believe its a good thing not only for the congregation, but for the pastor too as he relates to real people.
Wow, thats so true! After reading this article, I am just beaming for my pastor, haha, He still shakes everyone’s hand after service! We all have to greet one another and shake hands and hug, and our pastor stands on the pulpit and just greets people! Even when we have a lucheon after service, people sit with him and talk with him, and he doesnt leave until we are done talking with him. He even spends that time praying and encouraging people! I am always so thankful for my pastor, but after reading this article I realize how truly and fully blessed I am to know my Pastor as a personal mentor and spiritual father, and to have long, one on one conversations with him!
I agree about the importance of this, especially as it gives me time to do a brief ‘check-in’ with parishioners and a chance for them to tell me what is on their hearts and minds regarding their lives (or my sermon!). There’s an excellent chapter on this in a very good book titled “This Odd and Wondrous Calling”.
My husband and I love our Pastor Don. I grew-up in churches where at the end of service, it was customary for the pastor to step out and stand by the exit doors to shake hands with those who had been in attendance. Our Pastor doesn’t have the luxury of shaking hands with people at the door, but if you meet him in the hallway and greet him, he will never turn you away. I think sometimes we expect too much of our Pastors. I’d like to think that we should all remember to minister to the Lord by honoring our Pastor’s for all the service they do on behalf of the body of Christ. I’m a greeter at our church and I can tell you that sometimes it is challenging to make contact with each and every person coming in to the sanctuary.