Since my friend Kristi was so kind to share her thoughts on being a pastor’s wife, I groveled at her feet again for thoughts on being a pastor’s child. She kindly obliged me.
She writes:
I’ve always known the life of a church worker’s family. My parents were both Lutheran school teachers. Once I was born, my mom stayed home to take care of me, and eventually my brothers as well. My dad taught for a number of years in Lutheran schools and then attended the seminary to be a Lutheran pastor. I don’t regret that my parents were teachers or that my dad is a pastor. I have been blessed tremendously by their vocations.
Some people will tell you that the life of a pastor’s family (as well as a Lutheran teacher’s family) is like living in a fishbowl. I suppose, to some degree, that is correct. Because the pastor is the “public face” of the family, people really do keep their eyes on him. That’s how it should be: eyes on him. Even better would be if their ears would be on him, for he brings God’s good news to them in Word and Sacrament.
I can recall having family prayer-time every evening before going to bed. Dad would read the Bible story and then catechize me and my brothers further on the story. We would say prayers and then go off to bed. Dad was a busy pastor. He served two churches and attended countless meetings. He would be gone in the evenings, but he would always make sure he ate dinner with us before heading out the door for a long evening. Dad was Dad; he wasn’t “the pastor” all the time in our family. I never saw him that way. He was my dad, and he was also my pastor. He confirmed me. I had to know all of the answers to all of the questions because I was the only one in my class. Talk about pressure. It was parental pressure, not pastoral pressure.
We kids ate lots of cake. Our family was always invited to the baptism dinners. We attended confirmation dinners. We cleaned up on graduation cakes as well. After funerals, the ladies would send home extra sandwiches and pans of bars for our family. I liked that; I think my mom did, too.
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