Jeffrey is a pastor with the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ephrata, PA. His week involves preparing for Sunday services with reading sacred texts and writing sermons, organizing community outreach efforts, as well as educating the congregation.
Transcript
>> Jeffrey Goodman. Pastor of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ephrata, Pennsylvania. My day consists of preparing for Sunday. Sunday's our big day. So during the week, I do a lot of work with sacred texts, the Bible, and preparing for my sermon. So a lot of my job entails reading. Study. It's quiet a lot of times. Also in the afternoon, be visiting with elderly people. Sick people. Dying people. Bringing the sacraments to them. And I'm out and about, usually in the afternoon. But in the morning it's usually time for study; prayer. Things like that. Contemplation, yeah. I mean my job brings me into the community. And so I serve on the board of the Ephrata area social services. And so we're involved in feeding the poor. And making sure that nobody goes hungry. And so I'm brought into the community that way. And I have young children. So I see a lot of people that way through their school and things like that. I've been invited by their principal to mentor troubled children at the school. And, you know, things like that at the school with the -- in the community. A busy Sunday would be starting at 6:00 am. Getting there real early. Opening the church up. And getting ready for Sunday and things like that. Opening the doors; turning the lights on. And then at 8:30 teaching Sunday school to either adults or confirmation-age students. The younger ones have their own Sunday school teachers. And then at 9:30 the Divine Service. And so that usually lasts about an hour; hour-and-a-half. Preaching the Word. Administering the Sacrament. And then after that, usually another adult class that I'll be leading. Whether -- either -- it could be studying the Bible. Could be studying church history. Theology. Contemporary issues. And then in the evening, around 6:00 or 7:00, teaching confirmation class for junior high, high school aged children. As well as meeting with people who are coming into the church, who have never had an understanding of the Lutheran church, or the church in general. [ Silence ]
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