Proclaimer Blog
A word to young pastors….
Boys.
There are certain pastoral issues that will hit you like a train. You'll get a phone call and you will have to respond immediately. To be honest, for most pastoral emergencies you'll have at least a little chance to catch your breath (and work out what you believe), but I think the one issue that there is no time to do that is the sudden death of an infant or young child. The phone call comes and we need to respond immediately. It's a tricky issue too, far from being straightforward.
If someone phones saying they're getting divorced, you've generally got time to think, pray, study, consider before you see them. But the phone call announcing there has been an car accident or some medical emergency and a little one is dead allows no such time. So, here's my plea. Know what you believe biblically about this subject. Know how you need to respond pastorally. And even if you only have to use it once in your ministry, it will not be time wasted.
I've been teaching this subject on one of Cornhill+ study days this week and it's reinforced in my own mind the importance of the topic. The best summary, I think, is in Eric Lane's book Special Children. Naff cover. Really naff cover. But superb contents. Five squids well spent.