Why the Church Still Needs Scribes: An Introduction to the Curator’s Desk

What was a scribe during biblical times? Most of what people often draw from the Scribes are the rebukes taken from Matthew 23, where Jesus says "Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees" and speaks about all the ways these groups of people mishandled the people of God. When people hear someone call another a "modern-day Pharisee", everyone knows what that means, and we all know that it's not referencing anything good. However, the rebukes of Matthew 23 do not negate the necessity of the ministry of those who were Scribes and even Pharisees. God rebuked the priests many times, but that did not cancel out the need for the priests. False prophets were rebuked, but that did not cancel out the need for true prophetic ministry. These other groups were rebuked, but that did not cancel out the need for the responsibility that they carried.

For Scribes, their duties carried a broad range of responsibility. The scribes were skilled professionals, sometimes students. They were teachers of the law, legal scholars, copyists, and administrators. They were responsible for preserving the text, writing decrees, and handling other administrative tasks. They collected, edited, and expounded on scripture. Some Scribes were priests. Some worked in the king's chambers. A wealth of needed responsibilities. They were trained to read, study, and teach.

Over the years, the work of the scribe has been reduced to writing or being an author. You often hear Christian authors saying that they are scribes, which isn't always true. A person can be a writer without being a scribe. Writing is one of many facets of being a scribe. While writers will always be, there is a special need for the ministry of the Scribe in the work of today's ministries. These scribes are not creating scripture (there is no new scripture), but they are engaging in the many administrative tasks that preserve the foundational tenets of the church.

Scribal Teaching Ministry

We still need people who know how to read, study, and teach scripture. While our modern day teachings have primarily been the responsibility of church pastors, this has not always been the case in history. There was never just one person bearing the responsibility of reading, studying, and teaching scripture. The Sunday message did not fall on one person. There were many, designated people, trained and equipped to teach and explain the word of God.

Scribal Recording Ministry

The scribes preserved the history of the church. These were the people who recorded scripture. While this blog isn't meant to go into detail about this process, with research you will see how tedious the practice of copying scripture and record keeping was. They went to school and through extensive training to be able to complete this work with integrity and reverence. For the modern church, this means having people who keep record, who document sermons, who (if a church has prophetic ministry) record spoken words, and who make records of the things that should not be forgotten from generation to generation.

Scribal Administrative Ministry

Guarding teaching, organizing information, maintaining order and continuity. These are the behind-the-scenes responsibilities that keep the body of Christ functioning with integrity.

The administrative work of the scribe ensures that what is taught remains sound and what is recorded remains accessible. This ministry organizes the collected wisdom of the faith so that it can be retrieved, referenced, and passed down without confusion or loss. It creates systems that protect truth from being diluted or distorted over time.

In the modern church, this looks like maintaining theological libraries, organizing teaching archives, cataloging resources, and ensuring that the next generation has access to the foundational texts and teachings that shaped the generations before them. Without this work, we lose continuity. We forget where we came from, and we repeat mistakes that have already been corrected.

Scribal Curation Ministry

This is where all the teachings, recording, and administration is brought together. This is where the Scribe has to make decisions. While we would like to take everything into the future and preserve everything, it is impossible to preserve it all. Something will be missing. The curation ministry of the scribe must take on the responsibility of finding and choosing to chronicle those things that are necessary to remember in the next generation, and making sure those things get preserved.

Curation is about preserving past and current voices, teachings, and lessons that are deemed necessary for the next generation to know, learn, and have access to. Curation assures that nothing is left up to the imagination or trying to understand history through the eyes of opinion. The context of the era is also passed on from generation to generation.

Modern Day Challenge of AI

One of the biggest needs for scribal ministry comes on the shoulders of AI. AI isn't going anywhere. There's a strong consensus that this is part of the future. However, in the current state, it's a free for all. It has allowed a low barrier of entry for many things that once required some form of skill. AI has seeped into the arts, music industry, and writing industry and created a host of noise that is drowning out the authenticity of these areas. People have taken liberty at creating things that mimic real, but are not authentic. This is the reason why scribal ministry has always been necessary. While people may complain about "AI slop", slop did not just begin with AI. While it may be more mass produced because of the times we're living in, there were also issues during biblical times where people attempted to pass off that which was not authentic for that which was.

It was the scribe's duty to learn, know, educate, and make sure that truth is preserved.

The Curator's Desk

This is where my scribal work will live. The Curator's Desk is a space for annotated lessons drawn from forgotten Christian texts, teaching on leadership, stewardship, biblical literacy, and faithful work.

The work here will be slow. I will read, annotate, and teach what has been formed in me through study and Scripture. I will curate voices from the past that still speak to the present, and I will make sure those voices are not lost to the next generation.

The church still needs scribes to preserve what has already been given. We guard sound teaching, record what must not be forgotten, and organize truth so it can be passed down with integrity. This desk is part of that work. Welcome to the Curator's Desk.