Why I Remain: Rev. Chris Lantz
Pressing On - the stories of young(er) clergy
Hello friends and happy Monday!
I hope this letter finds you well as the earth, at least in my corner of creation, greens and grows. New life is emerging all around. Flowers are blooming, the school year is ending, spring sports seasons are in full swing, and summer is just around the corner. My own United Methodist denomination is also entering into a new season now that we are on the other side of an historic General Conference. It’s a new season, and I am grateful for leaders like Rev. Chris Lantz who are helping (re)shape the future of Church.
Today I am honored to share with you why, in his own words, Pastor Chris has chosen - and continues to choose! - to remain in local church pastoral ministry.
Chris and I first met in RIM (our Conference’s “Residence in Ministry” program). We soon discovered we had much in common - Chris has a dry wit, is a passionate sports fan, and graduated from high school the same year I did, though he attended my school’s vastly inferior cross-county rival! :D
I have much admiration for Chris and am blessed to call him ‘friend.’ He is a faith-filled pastor, a gift to the Conference committees on which he serves, and, I am told, is a pretty good baseball umpire as well! Chris is a tremendous father, a loving husband, and a good, good friend.
I am thankful Rev. Chris Lantz continues to be called to pastoral ministry and pray you will be blessed by his words.
P.S. Thanks for following along!
P.P.S. If you have enjoyed reading this series, will you consider writing your pastor a note of appreciation and encouragement this week? May God bless them through your words and thoughtfulness as they continue to serve!
Why I Have Chosen to Remain
When my good friend and colleague, Rev. Jared Kendall, posed this question a few weeks back, I must confess that I hadn’t really thought much on it. I’ve been too busy with the work and family and all the busyness that comes with those things! Yet, with the seismic shifts and changes the church has experienced in the past 5 years (particularly in my beloved United Methodist Church), it’s a question that all clergy, but particularly younger clergy like me need to seriously (and continually) evaluate.
So, given all the statistics, given all the articles and blog posts about “clergy burnout” and the “great clergy resignation”, and the constant reminder of our denominational struggles, why have I chosen to remain a pastor in the United Methodist Church?
In some ways, there’s a really complicated answer to this question but, at it’s core, my reasons for continuing among the ranks of the clergy are rather simple:
I am a stubborn person. I am not one to give up on the only church that I’ve ever known and the call I first received in high school to serve as a pastor. Despite all the “bad press” (much of it, justifiable), I still believe with my whole heart that God is still calling the United Methodist Church to be a faithful witness is our ever volatile world. God is not done with “the Church.” Far from it. The world needs our message of love and grace so desperately.
I still firmly believe that God continues to call me to lead God’s people as a clergyperson. I have been blessed in my ministry to serve faithful, genuine, thriving congregations who have taught me way more than I have been able to teach them. I count myself among the fortunate. Through the COVID pandemic, I served congregations that were committed to keeping one another safe, even if that meant not meeting for in person worship for a long stretch of time. I know not all congregations were like that and were very tough on their pastors. So, I am fortunate.
The church is undergoing a change and transformation that is equal parts terrifying and exciting. God is doing some amazing things in God’s church. Doors are opening. Lives are still being transformed. Room is being made at the table. Grace continues to be extended. Hope is still being proclaimed, even if the rest of the world struggles to hear it. The church still has so much to offer our world in ways both big and small and I feel called by God to help the church realize it.
As long as there is work to do in the name of Jesus Christ; as long as there are hungry to be fed, room to be made at Christ’s table, communities to be transformed by Christ’s unending and gracious love, Good News to be proclaimed, I will remain among the ranks of the clergy.
It is an honor to do this holy work, even when it is messy and doesn’t feel so holy sometimes. Not everyone is called to be a clergyperson. We have been set apart for the work we do, knowing that sometimes we’ll thrive, sometimes we’ll burnout, and sometimes we’ll just survive a day at a time. Sometimes we will need to take a “break” from pastoral ministry but our core call to this holy work remains always.
At the end of the day, I have been called by God to be a pastor. I have been called to be a pastor in this space and time, even though it is a time where there are far more questions than answers. I am hopeful for the church, the United Methodist Church, that we will come out the other end of this season of COVID and disaffiliation and General Conference with a renewed, grace-filled vision of who we are as we strive to be a Church that takes its mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” seriously.
I am hopeful. I am called. So, I remain.
Rev. Chris Lantz