Commonwealth Baptist A l e x a n d r i a , VA
Because of attempt at authentic openness, Commonwealth Baptist was able to call a husband and wife to pastor together in order to enhance the congregation. We are finding that the model works well for our church. During the interview process, we were asked, “How thick-skinned are you? What happens if the congregation likes one of you better than the other?” What we’re learning is that, instead of creating conflict, it benefits the church as a whole to have two pastors with a different set of gifts. Some people naturally seek a relationship with Marty and others gravitate to me. Instead of creating conflict, this makes space for more meaningful relationships. One couple told us that the wife connects with my style preaching and the husband with Marty’s; they are happy to be in a place where they both have a rich worship experience. Some women in the church have expressed joy at having the opportunity to connect with a female pastor and others like their pastor to be male. Since Marty and I are married, we notice that we also bring a family dynamic into our relationship as co-pastors. As we treat each other like family, the church community treats each other more like family. As they see us making decisions together, they begin to seek consensus among themselves. As people embrace our children, they also embrace other children in the church. Last summer, we preached the lectionary passages from Ephesians. Someone asked us to include a sermon on the submission passage in chapter five. While we normally alternate preaching, Marty and I preached that sermon together giving our church the opportunity to see a husband and wife interpret that difficult text together. This experience enabled all of us to gain a fuller understanding of the text. The class we wish seminary could have taught is how
to juggle being pastors and parents, for our family also consists of three fantastic young children. Once we both were in an important meeting only to hear one of our four year-old twin sons screaming for help. One of us left the meeting to find him standing in doorway of the sanctuary, where another congregation was worshiping, with his pants around his ankles. Preschoolers need help with that even on Sundays. Five minutes before worship was set to begin on Easter, Marty had to stop the baptistry from overflowing while I had to find an acolyte and get clothes for the baptism out of our car. One of our sons was missing in the church, and the other meandered into the sanctuary with a plate full of pancakes. We have no idea how we managed to begin worship on time with both sons safely in the nursery. We have also had to adjust our worship leadership so that we can foster the faith development of our seven yearold daughter. Our church has had to adjust to not having a minister sit on the platform during the service. We have had to teach them that our priority is to sit with her. We began our pastorate serving communion together but have since decided that we need to alternate that task so that can one of us sit with her and nurture her understanding of the meal. We discovered our sense of calling while at McAfee, yet we doubted that the opportunity would arise for us to fulfill that calling. It took time, but it happened. If you find yourself wondering if you’ll ever get to serve God in the way you most desire to serve, be patient. God has a place for each one of you. No exceptions. _Robin Anderson (‘04)