An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

tion was much less fun because the youth usually
didn’t want to be there and weren’t interested in
learning.
As conflict with the
conservatives intensified, I
tried using conference staff
to mediate. I also started
looking for a new church. I
studied conflict resolution
and systems theory, which
should be major course requirements
for anyone
planning to go into pastoral
ministry.
Being a pastor used
to be a low stress, high prestige
position. Now it’s high stress and low prestige.
ISKCON suffers tyranny of its leaders. The UCC suffers
tyranny of lay leaders who often have more
power than the pastor. Entrenched families who’ve
sometimes been in the church for generations, feel it’s
their church and the pastor should carry out their
wishes and preach the way they want him or her to.
What’s the use of having educated, ordained clergy if
they lack the power to carry out their task of ministering
according to God’s direction as they understand
it? The decentralized, nonhierarchical structure of the
UCC gives too much power to the local congregation
and too little to clergy.
When the opposition managed to get a majority
of supporters on the church council, they voted to
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