About
“Pastor, you sure don’t sound like a pastor.”
A couple of years ago, a man I was counseling uttered those words. When I asked him about what he meant, he explained that in all the times he has spoken with clergy people, they’ve been relatively quiet when it comes to what they really feel. They were just “nice,” minus all the personal quirks they may have exhibited.
As a pastor, though I am looked upon differently because of the vocation I am in, I’ve never believed that I should just keep my mouth shut when it comes to real life issues. If life is a struggle for members of my church, then wouldn’t it also be that life is, at times, a struggle for me? In dealing with God’s people, I carry their burdens as well as my own. My life is not perfect, by any means. I get hurt, tired, aggravated, happy, sad, amazingly annoyed, and at times, depressed — which is just like everyone else.
The reason I started this blog was to bring this part of “me” to light. Combining this real me with the theological issues that are out there, I want this blog to be about me — the personal, the clergy person, the theologian, the friend, the enemy, the guy who drives the speed limit at night. My posts will run the gamut. One day I’ll focus too much on the New York Yankees and the New York Rangers; other days I’ll dissect the deep rooted split within the Missouri Synod. Yet, every word will be by me and will delve into what I feel.
While not being the most prolific writer, I can write.
A previous incarnation of this blog held similar ideals. Yet, I failed to accomplish my goals because the blog devolved from my personal pastoral journal to a place where I was writing just to write. My challenge here is to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.
- Name: Rev. Anthony J. Iovine
- Occupation: Pastor
- Where?: Saint Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Milford, New Jersey
- Telephone: Google Voice – (201) 338-0049
