The very institution that was established to follow the one who once said, "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever must be first among you must be slave of all," utilizes some of the most hierarchial formulations. Reverends lording it over laity, and Most Reverends commanding mere Reverends, and Bishops over them and on and on and on.

I wonder if our pastors might be better reminded if, instead of Pastor or Father, we called them Servant. Of course, knowing pastors as I do, they would want to make sure they were the Number One Servant, The Senior Slave.

Not too long ago, I read of a congregation that was having some difficulty because their Parish Council found that they were spending all their time packing up used clothing for the homeless, or putting away chairs after another community group used the church building, or painting the walls of the day care center in the basement, and they didn’t have any time for running the church.

"We’re supposed to be the leaders," they complained, "and all we end up doing is acting like slaves."

They may be closer to the Kingdom of Heaven than they realize.