Pastoring the Powerful
October 1, 2000
One shift in the last thirty years is a heightened expectation that a pastor is to be a leader, perhaps the leader of the congregation. "Chaplain," to some, implies a spiritual caretaker who is not a leader. Yet many pastors recognize they minister in places where they do not command the highest position. Who better to speak to issues of pastoring the powerful than Lloyd Ogilvie, 70, who since 1995 has served as chaplain of the United States Senate. Prior to that he pastored First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California, for 23 years. Can you lead spiritually even when you are not the leader of the organization? Leadership is involved in enabling leaders to function as creatively and as effectively as they can. My role is to help those in the Senate accomplish their work. Several things are important here. First, the objective Word, the Scripture, is crucial. One of the first things I did here was to establish Bible studies. Presently, I'm teaching five of them: one for senate spouses, one for the chiefs of staff of the senators, one for the senators themselves, and two for senate staff. Each meets for an hour, most over the lunch hour. The Friday group is particularly interesting—a broad spectrum from the police force and custodial staff and research people and office workers. I've been encouraged by the response to straight-forward Bible study. You teach the Bible for an hour? Yes. And at the end, time for discussion and application. We've just finished a series on stress based on the book of James. Bill Frist, an eminent cardiologist, also a senator, gave an opening lecture on the physiology of stress. I followed with spiritual principles coming out of James. How else do you initiate ministry? We take the lead in helping ...
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