“Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”

One such example of a person who felt a call to fill a pastoral role in a nontraditional sense was Mr. Rogers. Although he was a credentialed minister, he did not preach at churches on Sunday mornings. Instead, he felt that “the space between the viewer and the television set ‘holy ground’ and said the central message of ‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood’—that you are loved just the way you are—was based on God’s concern for all creation, a core tenet of Christianity” (Daniel Burke, “Mr. Rogers Was a Televangelist to Toddlers,” CNN, November 23, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/23/entertainment/mister-rogers-faith-religion/index.html). Rogers loved God and knew he wanted to share God’s message to others. He trained himself well in the fields of theology, human growth and development, television show production, and other areas necessary to fill the very specific job God had for him.