How should young men treat their pastors/ministers/elders. Bryan Lorrits, a black pastor ministering in the US writes suggests the following:
1. [...] Don’t call him by his first name until he gives you permission to do so.
2. Because of his status, assume that his time is way more valuable than yours. Therefore don’t waste his time. Show up early. Beat him to the meeting.
3. Bring something to write with. Taking notes sends the message that you value his time and what he has to say.
4. Unless you are taking notes on your phone (and if so let him know you are, so he doesn’t think you’re fooling around), turn the phone off.
5. If you didn’t do so before the meeting, within the first five minutes let him know exactly what you want to talk about, and have well thought out questions prepared to ask.
6. I don’t care how broke you are, your mama may have had to give you bus fare to get to the restaurant, offer to pay for breakfast (and pray he turns you down!). It’s just good manners.
7. Thank him profusely for his time.
8. And if you want to really go the extra mile send him a thank you note when it’s all said and done.
I think I'm in agreement with most of these suggestions (and not just because I'm a pastor J) but I suspect that there is no way, no way at all that a white man would get away with suggesting these things (especially if they are white British). Agree?
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