Who's Ministering to Whom?

Since I’ve been your Interim Pastor in the last fifteen months, you may have noticed that the Sunday worship bulletin has been different: other than the obvious “Order of Service,” there are intentional pages and sections — such as the “Welcome” page, the “Announcements” page, the “Prayer Concerns” section, the “Daily Lectionary Readings for This Week” section, the ever-popular “What Happened on This Day in Christian History” box, and the “Church Weekly Calendar.” But have you ever noticed that under the Church Calendar, there’s the “Church Directory” that begins with these words, “Ministers: Entire Congregation / Assisted by:” followed by a list of the church staff?

Some people may say, “Wait a minute, I thought our church staff is who we pay to do the work of the church?” However, this centuries-long traditional roles of the clergy or staff and laity — with the clergy or staff doing the pastoring and the laity receiving it — is woefully inadequate to care for all the needs of people in our churches today, nor is it the proper understanding of discipleship.

According to Presbyterian pastor and writer Melvin J. Steinbron, author of The Lay-Driven Church: How to Empower the People of Your Church to Share the Tasks of Ministry (WIPF and Stock Publishers, 2004), there are two mindsets people sometime have when dealing with the Church — which he refers to as the new vs. the old:

Old: The pastor is called by God to be a minister.

New: Every Christian is called by God to be a minister.

Old: Ministry is the task of the pastor, supported by the people.

New: Ministry is the task of the people, supported by the pastor.

Old: The people assist the pastor in doing what they believe God is calling the pastor to do.

New: The pastor assists the people in doing what they believe God is calling the people to do.

Old: The pastor has all the gifts required to nurture and care for a congregation.

New: All of the people together have the gifts required to nurture and care for a congregation.

Old: The pastor bears the burden of the ministry. The people hold the pastor up in prayer.

New: Both people and pastor bear the burden of the ministry. They hold one another up in prayer.

Old: The pastor is accountable to God and the members for doing the ministry. Lay people who serve are accountable to the pastor.

New: All Christians are ministers and are accountable to God and the church leaders.

Old: Seminaries are to educate and train certain “called” people for the ministry.

New: The church is to educate and train all members to be ministers.

Our Reformed understanding of “Priesthood of All Believers” (1 Peter 2:9-10) and the apostle Paul’s admonition about our spiritual gifts in the metaphor of “One Body with Many Members” (1 Corinthians 12) apply to all followers of Jesus Christ, and not just some! Our various gifts are to be used to minister to one another.

Yes, the Church should be about God’s people doing God’s work together — both clergy and lay. I believe it is only then that we would realize the kingdom of God and fulfill Jesus’ commission for all of us for His Church.

Yours in Christ,