I have a pastor and I think I know him.

He likes Apple computers. In fact, he is the reason why the church had this Macintosh craze going around. Apart from this, the BlackBerry smartphone is also a must-have. Just recently, tweets revealed that Sono’s Multi-room media player is the next most coveted gadget the church goers advocate. You can see them here, here, here and here for a preview.

I know also of his bubble-tea drinking preferences. It doesn’t take too much of an effort to know that the bubble tea he drinks has to be from Koi’s. He likes pineapple tarts and this, he mentioned explicitly before during one of the services I’ve gone to recently. Oh, he loves Ed-Hardy apparel.

I have a pastor and I think I know him.

(I must say that by now, most of my connect group members can cite an additional example or two to supplement my points. At the other spectrum, one or two church members may be laughing at how superficial I know of my pastor)

In all seriousness, apart from these cursory knowledge, I knew nothing about him. In fact, I haven’t had a conversation that spans more than five seconds with him at all. The only time I got remotely close to him was during my water baptism service, where he asked how I wanted to be baptised.

The last time I checked, a pastor is a spiritual father to most church goers.  But as the congregation gets larger each season, the distance is made wider. It’s logistically impossible for him to talk to everyone. It’s ridiculous to expect him to know everyone. But we know he’s trying.

In today’s context, to get an opportunity to talk to him is akin to having tea with a celebrity. It becomes a privilege to sit alongside with him to get a decent conversation. In order to reach to that stage, we probably need to go through the rites of serving in ministry and probably be a leader in order to get that chance. Yeah, it’s somewhat like the golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory.

Who am I to demand an audience with him? Which dynasty did I say we were in now?

There was once I attended a mid-week service where people shared about the hearts of pastors’. Granted, I felt the work of God and the efforts of pastor through their testimonies; however, the entire experience about having a relationship with pastor was suddenly glorified — in a manner which I felt was placed above having a relationship with God. I’m confused at times who I am suppose to worship.

My point is, it’s difficult to get a message across to someone without having your email intercepted and read by his personal assistant, or his personal assistant’s assistant. I was advised that the safer way to get my message is probably through snail mail, or hand-deliver the letter to his office. In today’s age and technology? I thought I started off this entry being technologically-inclined.

I have a pastor and I think I know him.  He’s either a celebrity or a CEO of a huge organization.

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Post-Entry notes: This entry was intended to illustrate the physical and psychological distance I felt in a local church whose numbers are proliferating over the years. While the church sees growth, I was worried about the relationship between its members and the clergy. How do we grow and yet stay close?