Welcome!
I'm Rev. Jana Quisenberry. I'm an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and have served the Church as a senior minister since 2004. I love the Church and the work of the Church, but not all of it. As the senior minister of small churches, I know the challenge of doing big ministry with limited resources. Some weeks, you can slowly craft worship, delighting in the artistic outlet of writing liturgy. Other weeks, Four Weddings and a Funeral isn't just a movie and you have all of five minutes to plan worship. Many of us are now not only the only Pastor but are doing all the things expected of that office while being bi-vocational, adding another layer of complications and half the time to do twice the work.
Being the only Pastor can also be a struggle because there is so much asked of us that isn't in our wheelhouse. For a natural administrator, worship planning may be a nightmare. One whose passion is listening in Pastoral Care may not have an easy time finding ways to express themselves in quotes and sermon illustrations.
And there are issues common to all of us. The frustration, longings, feelings of failure, constant juggling of priorities, and loneliness can overwhelm the call and claim on our hearts. My blog area will focus on those issues as well as some tricks I've learned along the way as a pastor with ADD that help to make certain tasks more efficient or livelier.
Pulpit Patterns is an attempt to give you what you need to bring quality resources to those moments when you have very little time or energy. It is here to make life easier with quality worship, sermon, and administrative resources that will free your focus for whatever purpose God most needs from you.
I serve the Church in a "part-time" capacity. Those of you who have had such a position know that isn't part-time at all. I serve on several boards as well as raising my family, helping my aging mother, and struggling with some health issues. This has two effects on the Pulpit Patterns effort:
1) it is slow going. You'll see a lot of "Under Construction" spaces. I don't want to wait until it is perfect for it to be available, so I'm learning to be patient with the journey
2) it is ad based. That's right! I know there are wonderful sites that are donation based. I'm so grateful for them and love their clean look, but as a Pastor with limited resources... in every way and can't always support those cites. To be able to cover the costs of keeping this site, as well as (hopefully) create additional income for my family, I will have ads. I'll do the best I can to vet so that there aren't ads that are completely against those things that I believe, but you know what, things happen,
and I'm learning.
Thanks for visiting. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your ministry.
Blessings.
Being the only Pastor can also be a struggle because there is so much asked of us that isn't in our wheelhouse. For a natural administrator, worship planning may be a nightmare. One whose passion is listening in Pastoral Care may not have an easy time finding ways to express themselves in quotes and sermon illustrations.
And there are issues common to all of us. The frustration, longings, feelings of failure, constant juggling of priorities, and loneliness can overwhelm the call and claim on our hearts. My blog area will focus on those issues as well as some tricks I've learned along the way as a pastor with ADD that help to make certain tasks more efficient or livelier.
Pulpit Patterns is an attempt to give you what you need to bring quality resources to those moments when you have very little time or energy. It is here to make life easier with quality worship, sermon, and administrative resources that will free your focus for whatever purpose God most needs from you.
I serve the Church in a "part-time" capacity. Those of you who have had such a position know that isn't part-time at all. I serve on several boards as well as raising my family, helping my aging mother, and struggling with some health issues. This has two effects on the Pulpit Patterns effort:
1) it is slow going. You'll see a lot of "Under Construction" spaces. I don't want to wait until it is perfect for it to be available, so I'm learning to be patient with the journey
2) it is ad based. That's right! I know there are wonderful sites that are donation based. I'm so grateful for them and love their clean look, but as a Pastor with limited resources... in every way and can't always support those cites. To be able to cover the costs of keeping this site, as well as (hopefully) create additional income for my family, I will have ads. I'll do the best I can to vet so that there aren't ads that are completely against those things that I believe, but you know what, things happen,
and I'm learning.
Thanks for visiting. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your ministry.
Blessings.
