Christian Ministry 101

   I.    Physical Matters

         A. Changes of address on all mailings: periodicals, credit cards, friends and relatives you want to keep in contact with.

                  Under most circumstances when you take a ministry of any kind, do it as an open-ended experience.  Give no thought to how long you will be there, because you should not be interested in climbing ladders so much as serving Christ. Your motive is to “bloom where you are planted” rather than look past what you are doing in order to discover “greener pastures” elsewhere. As a primary motive if you focus on moving up the ladder, you are probably not so much concerned to improve the upcoming situation as to improve your own standing. It is a form of “building on another man’s foundation.”

  1.    Intergenerational

   I. General Considerations

             In the past, extreme positions have been taken on both sides of the “preacher competition” issue in hiring a minister. At one extreme is the practice of bringing in three or four ministers for “trial sermons” and then taking a vote on which one the people want. At the other extreme is the policy ministers may advocate that search committees look at only one candidate at a time and decide yes or no before passing on to the next one. It seems curious that ministers want to look at several congregations and decide which one to take, but they do not want a congregation looking at more than one minister.

I. Cover Letter

            OrdInation to the ministry involves three issues: (1) the understanding of New Testament offices and ministry, (2) the New Testament meaning of ordination, and (3) the meaning attached to ordination by the state.

I. Ordination is for the one ordained.

         Ordination is for impressing on the person ordained the importance of his calling. People set aside time for things that are important. By setting aside time to concentrate on what it means to enter ministry, the body of believers shows the person their regard for that calling. Ordination provides a time to be impressed with the significance of the “ministry of reconciliation,” as Paul called it (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

   I.    Cleanliness

         Body odor and bad breath are highly offensive in American culture–more so than in many parts of the world. This situation is particularly bad because (a) people will rarely say anything to you about it. They may hold back until it makes them angry and then when they say something about it, it is probably too late for you to do anything about it in order to keep it from ruining your ministry. These problems are also bad because (b) you do not smell your own bad breath or your own body odor. Consequently, you have to do what it takes to prevent these problems even though you do not sense any need to do so. (c) Once your clothes and shoes have picked up body odor, you may not be able to get it out of them.

         The qualities for a good minister begin with the virtues of good Christian living. In preparation becoming a Christian minister, you cannot bypass Christian virtues and start with the developing professional skills or learning religious information. After all, ministry exists for the express purpose of bringing people into a pattern of living that is more appropriate to, and consistent with, relationship to God and other people. Below is a suggestive list of personal qualities that ministers particularly need to have.

             The ministry calls for a wider range of useful skills than most vocations do. Obviously you cannot be top notch in everything useful to this calling, but the more skills you have at your disposal the less you limit your ministry. Within the congregation you need to surround yourself with people who can do what you are weak at or do not have time do. You also need to develop a network of people to whom you can make referrals. Needless to say, some churches and communities do not have people who can do some of the things you need help with. In those cases, play to your strengths and do the best you can with weaker areas, improving them as you have opportunity.

   I. Expressing caring

         Most of us are not as good as we could be at communicating to people that we care about them. We can use a number of techniques for expressing love. They include taking time to listen, to talk about seemingly purposeless things, to identify with people’s interests and problems, looking them in the eye– focusing on them, smiling, giving a firm handshake or a hug, using touch, doing something for them without being asked.

            For many years a number of congregations have used upper division students as preachers. The churches are small (30-75 in attendance) and rural or small town with memberships that reflect their surroundings. They are spread out across the northeastern sector of the state. Student ministries can be Sunday-only, weekend, or living at the church in a parsonage and commuting to school. The arrangements you enter into depend on your age, marital status, the financial condition of the particular church, and the kind of mix you want between practical experience and academic preparation. If a student takes a ministry in one of these situations, he needs to view his work as a learning experience of service in the church more than a leadership position. There are a number of benefits that such an opportunity can give him. For one thing, he can develop his skill at preaching. In fact, preaching is his main job and other responsibilities fill in around it. Attached to preaching is the discipline of preparing messages on a regular basis, which entails finding topics for sermons, organizing thoughts so they can be presented understandably, and gaining experience at actually making the public oral presentation. Since most of you have not done much like this before, developing preaching skill will probably take quite a bit of emotional energy the first few times until you gain some confidence and sense some acceptance by the congregation. You will probably feel “out of place” for a while since a good number of the people will be old enough to be your parents and grandparents. So the best course is to approach this task as sharing a message addressed to yourself that you are letting them overhear. You will not be “telling them what to do”; you are too young for that–if indeed you ever get old enough to look at preaching that way.

   I.    In Anticipation of Ministry

               Ministry to other people proceeds out of a relationship to God and then out of relationship to them. Vertical and horizontal interpersonal relationship reinforce each other.