Prairie Pastoral

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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February 18, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Here’s to the enforcers

I’ve realized a lot about myself as a leader since last March. You know what I figured out just last week?  I probably knew it but I never really put it into words? I hate being an enforcer. I can do it, but I hate it.  

“No, no, you have to wear a mask when you come in on Sunday. No, you really have to wear a mask. No, it actually has to go over your nose. That’s the whole point. Really.”  

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Did I mention that I hate it?

I said as much last week in my Sunday message, as I made a larger point about how hardship can–not every time, but many times–shape us closer into the image of God.

As I repeated, “I hate it,” for the fourth or fifth time, I began to see knowing looks, heads nodding slightly, in the congregation. Ah, I thought, those are the other enforcers out there. They hate it, too.

We’re doing the work–however imperfectly–to lead through a pandemic.

None of us are enjoying this. None of us.  

So, here’s to the enforcers–to the principals, the supervisors, the coaches, the teachers, the pastors, the administrators, the flight attendants, and everybody else whose job descriptions include looking out for other folks. You’re exhausted, too, and we know it.

Thank you, enforcers, for the hours spent pouring over public health orders, crafting safety plans, revising safety plans, communicating the new and newly revised safety plans, and then making those safety plans happen in the face of constant suspicion (at best) and outright hostility (at worst).

Thank you, enforcers, for keeping us safe.

Leadership, Spiritual maturity, Trust Tagged: church, COVID 19, enforcement, masks


May 3, 2019 | Leave a Comment

How to leave a church

Some years ago. I bumped into a woman who had been attending our Sunday morning worship for over a year. She’d been active in adult education, and I’d been touched when she brought me a small vase at my family’s Christmas open house. I considered her part of the church family.

On the day I bumped into her, though, it had been several weeks since we’d seen her.

“Hey,” I said, “We’ve missed you at church.”

“Oh,” she replied. “I don’t go to your church anymore.”

Pause for my stunned silence. [Read more…]

Church, Criticism, Deception, Leadership, Trust Tagged: leaving church, self-examination


October 25, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Ministry, expectations, and abundant grace

The news of Eugene Peterson’s death this week re-started an old conversation I’ve had with myself over the years—a conversation about ministry, and expectations, and grace.

You see, in 1999, I graduated from seminary and was ordained a minister. My gifts upon both occasions included Eugene Peterson books…a lot of Eugene Peterson books.

[If you’re unfamiliar with Peterson or know him only for The Message, you’ll find his obituary here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/october/eugene-peterson-died-message-bible-long-obedience-resurrect.html He wrote a number of important books aimed at American Protestant pastors.]

I’ve given away most of my multiple copies now, and the ones I kept are underlined and sticky-noted, and at least two of them are missing pages. It’s ironic, really, given the fact that I stopped reading his books on pastoral ministry for the better part of 10 years, when I came to resent the work he offered. [Read more…]

Church, Discipleship, Leadership Tagged: Eugene Peterson, expectation, motherhood


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This is the day that
the Lord has made;
let us rejoice
and be glad in it.

– Psalm 118:24
Rev. Dr. MJ Romano

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Bible Verse of the Day

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19
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LaJunta Presbyterian Church

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