Pastor's Circle - Albert Haase

Father Albert Hasse, a Franciscan priest, came into the Pastor's Circle to explain why Pentecost is, unfortunately, often overlooked by the church. Learn more about Fr. Haase here.

In those days when they go to Jerusalem and wait, was that an emptying process?

Well, you could certainly interpret it that way.

In so many ways Pentecost is the birthday of the church.

You hit the nail right on the head...I think you are dead right. That is, we do not give Pentecost the kind of importance it should have.

Not only do we not give Pentecost its importance, but we also forget that we share in that gift of the Holy Spirit.

Why don't we pay enough attention to Pentecost?

I think part of the reason might be that we love to bask in the glow of Christmas, because it reminds us of God's love for us.

We love to bask in the glow of Easter, because it marks the defeat of the devil.

But Pentecost requires something from us.

I think part of the reason why we have not paid attention to Pentecost, and given it its important, is because deep down we realize that it comes with a challenge.

We need to reclaim the fact that Pentecost is the birthday of the church and now as a results we have a work to do.

Is servant leadership an appropriate thought for us?

Oh, absolutely, because in so many ways that's what it's all about.

It's interesting that this whole idea of servant leadership actually got started in the Christian millieu and then moved out into corporate America.

I think that people are now beginning to realize that (washing feet) requires strength.

In the Gospel of John when he gets down to wash the feet of his disciples, he really shows himself as a servant leader.

How important is it to continually open up leadership pathways for younger people?

If we 're going to survive as the community of Jesus, we don't have much of a choice.

As long as we stay in touch with the spirit, the spirit will enlighten us.

What makes that hard for us old geezers?

Oh, come on, you know as well as I do, Matt. We don't want to let go of our pulpit.

The best churches I've seen are the ones where pastors who don't own their pulpits.

In Acts the Spirit raised leaders up, the Spirit is trying to do the same doggone thing today.