From the Pastor - "Ministry" June 2015

Dear Friends in Christ,

What is the church?  The church may be considered in terms of our location, nature, redemption, and shape.  According to Everist and Nessan in Transforming Leadership, the church may also be described in terms of its ministry.

To speak of the church’s ministry, Martin Luther used the idea of the communion of saints.  But his understanding of the living saints may surprise you.  According to Luther, the living saints are our neighbors, especially the poor and the hungry.  

Our ministry should focus on helping our neighbors in need.  Luther tried to reform the church’s thinking about sainthood from the idea of “merit” to “service.”  We are called to serve others as Christ has served us.  In this sense, there is a parallelism of between the priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of all believers.  Every Christian is a priest in the sense of servant.

In modern times, the church has focused too much on the ministry of the clergy.  The laity are also called to ministry that “stretches out to human needs wherever love and service may convey God’s love and ours…This means that all Christians are called to minister wherever Christ would have them serve and witness in deeds and words that heal and free” (Discipline ¶128).

Ministry in Christ’s name is a gift, as well as a task.  The gift is God’s unmerited grace, and the task is unstinting service (Discipline ¶129).  At Trinity, we expect every member to be in ministry. 

(1)   As a church, who are our neighbors?

(2)   How are you living out your ministry of “priesthood” through acts of witness and service?

Ministry makes the church visible to the world.  When we neglect our ministry of witness and service, we lose vitality and our impact on the world diminishes (Discipline ¶130).  But when we bear witness to God’s love and serving our neighbors, we are signifying the truth of the gospel through our ministry to the world.  That’s church.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Brian C. Smith