Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1992

Confessions Of A Blue-Collar Pastor In A Blue-Collar Church
Jim Moerman

Almost everyone considers the pastoral ministry as a white-collar or professional occupation. Pastors in the RCA are a well-educated bunch with at least seven years of "higher education" at colleges and seminaries. Through the years of involvement with academic circles and professional educators, they almost always emerge white-collar or professional in their thinking, values and practice by the time of ordination.

But not all churches reflect those white-collar values. In fact, about half of them are blue-collar churches.

Blue collar people are the working class" of society. The people who sweat to earn a living. Who cut their hands at work and don't even notice. They drive used cars, take the full 25 years to pay off the mortgage and have two weeks of vacation per year. Their education consists of a high school diploma. Maybe.

During the six years I've ministered at Grace Community Church, a "working class" congregation in Surrey, B.C., I've noticed a few items about the impact of blue-collar culture on a local church.

Stompin Tom Conners

Blue-collar folks relate to what they might call "real" music. Not esoteric melodies that transport one's enraptured soul to seventh heaven, but good ol' down-home, foot-stompin', hand-clappin' tunes with 4/4 time and a back-beat. (Most of them even know how to clap on the down beat!)

If a pastor wanted to establish a church ensemble or mini-orchestra in a blue-collar church, he'd meet with frustration. He couldn't find a violin, french horn or cello player anywhere. But if he looked, he'd find a few guitar-pickers, a drummer and maybe a honkytonk piano player who can chord pretty good. Could God use these? Of course. They could be recruited to form a worship team.

The lyrics of the songs also tend to be different. They shouldn't be too complicated or use unfamiliar words. They need to express the heart and passion of the person singing.

Communicating Truth

One of the greatest challenges for a seminary-trained pastor is to communicate the meaning of seven-syllable theological words in a way that the common folk can understand. Martin Luther used to preach his sermons to an uneducated milkmaid and her job was to stop him every time he used a word she didn't understand. How many times would you have to stop your pastor in the course of his sermon?

I love my church because I can use slang, make sound effects, tell stories or purposeful jokes, laugh, or do something unusual... and the congregation responds. I try to talk the way they talk and act the way they act. There isn't a cultural canyon between the kind of communication that goes on among the people and the communication of God's Truth to the people from the pulpit.

Sermon topics, illustrations and applications are carefully chosen to relate to the working class. Messages are intensely practical. Blue-collar folks just aren't very interested in "exploring concepts" or "toying with ideas". They want answers, not more questions. "What does that passage say?" "OK, now what's that mean to me?" "What does the Lord want me to do with it?" This approach is much more satisfying to the blue-collar way of thinking.

Straight-Ahead Liturgy

A management executive recently attended one of our services at the invitation of one of his sales personnel, a member of our church. The executive (a Christian) quite simply did not enjoy the service. His only comment was "Well, there certainly wasn't anything pretentious about that now, was there?" From his white-collar professional church background, he was expecting grand anthems, flowing robes, high-church prayers and a scholarly discussion of theological concepts.

Boy, was he surprised!

What he got was a country 'n western oriented worship band, a pastor in shirt-sleeves behind a music stand, heartfelt extemporaneous prayers uttered by members from their seats and a hard-hitting challenge to surrender his sex-life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

Blue-collar folks aren't interested in fanfare and flourish. They want to know what's going on with a liturgy and order of service that's comprehensive and straight-ahead.

Blue Collar Programs and Ministries

Blue-collar folks aren't cerebrally-oriented. They lean toward need-meeting groups and task-oriented gatherings over against discussion or even teaching groups. From time to time I hear about a church that has a thriving reading group where people discuss the book they read last week. One thing's for certain - it ain't no bluecollar congregation!

A successful ministry in a blue-collar church doesn't have to be fancy, just practical and need-oriented. It needs a clear and relevant purpose, and food is a good idea too!

Conclusion When there's a good match between a blue-collar pastor and a blue-collar church, they can make beautiful music together. They click. I love the blue-collar church God has called me to serve and the bluecollar neighbourhood we are reaching.

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