Minister’s Letter — November 2005

In the “Minister’s Vision” letter I sent out in the September Newsletter, I said something about creating a shared ministry culture in the Fellowship, versus a committee culture or a board culture. A few have queried me about that, saying, “What do you mean? Decisions have to be made. Work has to be done. The toilet has to be fixed. Who’s going to do that if not a committee or the Board?” Good question. So here’s my answer

.

Ministry is usually associated with the minister of the congregation. The minister does the ministry. Members serve on committees. But shared ministry suggests another way of viewing things.

Shared ministry is the recognition that the ministry is the responsibility of our entire congregation. I am your minister, but not the ministry. Each of us has a role to play and each of us creates and recreates the ministry of our Fellowship.

Everything that this Fellowship does – in reaching out and healing a broken world, in the ways we care for each other, in the ways we help the stranger – is ministry. The role of every committee is ministry. Here’s the way one congregation states it: We envision helping all our people— children and youth as well as adults—to find opportunities for ways of making a difference in the world through some ministry either within or outside the church. Our goal is that every member has a ministry of some kind. That statement sums up what I mean by “ministry culture.”

So, I want to invite everyone to be a part of our ministry. Different people have different gifts and interests, and hence, different ministries may appeal to you. Begin with whatever makes your heart and soul sing whether it is through a committee or doing something new. If you are passionate about your ministry in our church, you will do great good in the world and find yourself changed for the better.

Ministry is not about power. It’s not about just doing business. It’s about serving. It’s about being there. It’s about being with. It’s about nurturing and creating. Ministry is about institution—about building and maintaining a strong, vital institution— whether it be through programming, welcoming new members, keeping the building beautiful, or making financial pledges. After all, if our Fellowship were not here, we wouldn’t have RE, or Community Circles, or women’s/men’s groups, or a place to have memorial services for our friends or dedication services for our children, or a children’s choir or Spirits in Harmony. ing to our faith. Witnessing— another word we tend to choke on as Unitarian Universalists. Sounds too much like the Baptists. But witnessing is just telling others about the joy we have found in our faith. We’re not trying to save anybody’s soul. We are just trying to deepen the life of the soul in some way and we do it through ministry.

Well there you have it. The bottom line is this: in the shared ministry model, we work together as minister and people for the common good of the Fellowship and the larger community. I have my role as your minister. The ministry of the Fellowship is carried out by all of you. This is not my Fellowship. It is yours. And I am here to serve you.

I love you all. See you soon!

Jim Covington