Philosophy of Ministry

I feel slightly awkward as I approach this paper, predominantly because I am forced to express outright without much room for explanation or context my thoughts and views regarding ministry. In truth any paper I write will be somewhat limited in scope regarding issues pertaining to pastoral ministry what with my limited experience. It is important to recognize right off the hop that every ministry context is different and demands to be addressed on its own merits and conditions. Keeping this in mind, we will be examining my understanding of what in general pastoral ministry includes and who is involved with pastoral ministry. I am perhaps at a slight advantage when writing a paper like this, since my denomination has a set list of affirmations by which we hope to guide the various communities involved in our conference towards what we believe Christ is calling us to. When I think about a philosophy of ministry, I first think about who is involved in this ministry and second what those parties are called to. Therefore, this paper will examine the parties involved in ministry, and how those involved live into their respective aspects through the lens of the Covenant Affirmations.

I have been told that when it comes to theology, the best place to begin is with Jesus, since He is the where the divine and human entities dwell, from Him comes both our understanding of who God is and who we are as humans. Everything we know of Jesus comes from Scripture it is central to our understanding of who God is and so it is to Scripture we will now turn. I have spent most of my time with Jesus through reading the Gospel of John. I really like this Gospel because I feel it summarizes Jesus’ ministry and appropriates the response of those who came into contact with him. The prologue of John begins by telling us that the Word was in the beginning, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and most excitingly for us, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I believe that this is where ministry begins, with people who live and well with others. It is primarily done in the context of long-term relationship. The Greek is a little more explicit, literally translated it means ‘the Word ‘tented’ among us.’

Pastoral ministry, seen through the lens of Jesus is not contained to a single action or service. We read in John that Jesus attended weddings, and travelled with His disciples, He spoke publicly and privately with people who were confused and caught up in circumstances they could not get out of. Some of these people were people of high distinction, lawyers and priests, as well as those the Bible portrays as lower-class citizens, beggars and prostitutes. Throughout the entirety of the Gospel according to John we see Jesus patiently working with those who come to him, answering their questions and doing some very spectacular things. We also see that Jesus was not shy when it came to addressing issues that arose in the communities He was involved in, seeking to present every opportunity for those around Him to turn away from the idols they had established and follow Him as Messiah and king, to recognize Him as God. Sadly, Jesus’ ministry was something we today might call a failure. Very few people came to recognize Him as God. Only after He was abandoned by His friends, only after He died on the cross and only after He was resurrected on the third day did His closest followers finally comprehend what He had been trying to tell them for the last three years.

In John 21, we read of His final interaction with Peter. We read that Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, three times Peter responds that he indeed does love Jesus and three times we read that Jesus commands Peter to feed and tend to His sheep. This is ultimately how I understand the pastor’s role. I look at the way Jesus interacted with the people He was ministering to and I am overcome by two substantial observations. First, Jesus is truly remarkable. Second, even though the disciples rarely understood what it was Jesus was telling them, or even who He was, God was gracious and loving enough that He was willing to work through them and continues to work through us today. For the rest of this treatise, I will unpack the who, what, when, where, why, and how of ministry in an attempt to articulate just how God works through us today.

There are three primary participants in church ministry; God, the congregation, and the pastor. God as seen through the trinity plays a tremendous, indeed the most important aspect in the life of the church. It is because of Him that we are here. It is because of Him that we breath. It was He who took on flesh and dwelt among us. It was He who died on the cross because of our selfish impudence. It was He who was resurrected to new life. And it was He who ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the father and intercedes on our behalf. It was He who came to show us the truth, to open our eyes to the work and glory of God. It was Him who led the disciples out of Jerusalem to the rest of the world. It was He who gave them words to explain who Jesus was and what He had done. It was around Him that new converts gathered to worship and praise Him. It is because of Him that Christians all throughout the centuries were willing to die in service to others. It is because of Him that Christians have no use for their possessions other than to serve God and others around them. For those who are called the church, the Body of Christ, God is everything.

The congregation is perhaps a little bit more difficult to describe. There is a particular amount of anomaly when discussing who the church is. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that only by being reborn in the Spirit will Nicodemus truly understand the truth that Jesus offers him. Ultimately, the church is comprised a congregation of sinners who rely on the person and work of Jesus for their righteousness, who have been reborn in the Spirit, who have been baptized into the life of Christ, and who continually turn to Jesus as they live into the righteousness propitiated to them through Christ’s resurrection. However, this definition is rather vague. How this plays out is sloppy and quite inarticulately. Paul provides for us a picture of the church being the body of Christ. As we are baptized into that body, we use the abilities and gifts that God has given to us towards building a unified community. This means that mechanics, artists, cooks, mothers, students, teachers, doctors, philosophers, even sociologists work towards expressing the love that Christ offers through the acts of love Christ has told us to carry out. One person cannot be all these things, rather we need those who think, do and speak differently to serve others in whatever way they can so that through their actions and words others might know that we are different than the way the world does and understands things.

In this way, the pastor is absolutely no different than the rest of the congregation. The pastor is first and foremost a servant of God simply using their gifts and abilities to serve others that they might believe in Christ and that through believing they may have eternal life. However, where a CEO provides financial and administrative structure for a company, a pastor provides understanding regarding finances so that people might understand how to honour God with their money. Where an artist might paint a beautiful picture, a pastor will craft a beautiful sermon. Where a teacher might explain a math equation, a pastor will explain Scripture. Jesus calls Peter to feed and tend His flock, this is what a pastor does. Personally, my gifts and abilities are most like a teacher in that I think I have been given a mind that understands the way theology and life intersect.

One of the models for pastoral ministry utilized by the reformed tradition is understanding the three offices of prophet, priest, and king. A prophet communicates and encourages a person or people to understand the direction God is calling them. A priest is heavily involved in the life of people, they are involved in the messy aspects of a persons life, they also facilitate a number of functions such as weddings. Finally, a king is gifted with the ability to manage and direct a kingdom towards financial responsibility. I most closely identify with the prophet and priest mentalities. I care deeply for people in day to day situations and want to understand where God is calling the congregation and follow Him where he leads us.

We have already begun to address what these participants do, but perhaps a more thorough explanation is required. While everything we are addressing in this treatise in connected in some respect, the ‘what’, ‘where’, and ‘why’ of ministry are intricately connected. Together, the church is committed to the entire mission of the church. This entirety involves two spheres, the inner community of the church, those who have been baptized into the church and participate regularly with others in worship, fellowship and devotion to Jesus. Of the twenty-seven books that comprise our New Testament, twenty-two of those books are written to churches and leaders regarding how to do church together, explaining how to do life together as Christians, and what happens when conflict arises. The primary role of the church is to work towards unity in Christ. The secondary element in the life of the church is the continual inclusion of others whose eyes have been opened by the Spirit. Not conversion necessarily, conversion is a work and operation solely of God. However, once conversion has taken place in the life of a person, they need to be connected with the greater body of the church so as to come to a fuller understanding of who God is. The ‘where’ of ministry is both in the inner congregation and the surrounding culture. As we gather, we gather with purpose, and as we go out, we go out with purpose. Why do we do this? Because we love God and we have been called to tend His flock and feed His sheep. Because the night before Jesus died, He washed the feet of sinners and served the one who was about to betray Him. Because when we drink the cup and eat the bread, we are reminded of grace that He provides for us, and this should make us want others to experience that grace for themselves.

The ‘how’ of ministry is where I as a pastor step up. Understanding that every congregation is different and requires different elements to be fruitful in its contribution to this mission of the church, there are some aspects that separate the pastor from the broader community. Hopefully, one of those aspects is education. Whatever the occupation or calling of the various congregants in the community, there is expected that they know something more about their particular vein of expertise than those who are not working in that field. A doctor has spent a fair amount of time learning about the body and about medicine, they are employed in a hospital or clinic because they know more about these aspects. A mechanic is expected to know something about cars and to be able to demonstrate that knowledge through their ability to fix a car. Similarly, it is expected that a pastor knows something about theology, they have spent years pouring over the writings of theologians throughout the centuries, they have spent time studying Scripture, they have spent time with various spiritual disciplines for the express purpose of the benefit and wellbeing of the community.

There are two primary places where pastoral ministry occurs, what some might understand as ministry on the ground, and ministry from the air. Ministry on the ground can be seen as how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God comes to us humans as a human and lives with us for 35 years. He spends time with the people. He interacts with those who come to hear Him speak. He eats with sinners and tax collectors. He walks with His disciples. He washes their feet. There is nothing clean about Jesus' ministry, it is very messy. Ministry from the air can be understood as Sunday morning. The climax of Jesus' ministry was His betrayal, death, resurrection, and ascension. This is why we come together on Sunday mornings to be immersed in this climax every week. We come together to share in this feast of blood and flesh. We come together to remember the death and resurrection of our baptisms. We gather around to remind ourselves that Jesus is alive and well and that He is coming back soon. These two aspects of ministry should hopefully lead into each other. We cannot come together on Sunday mornings without the daily ministry to each other. And when we gather together to remember Jesus we should want to minister to each other, to invite each other over for a meal, to pray together in our houses, to study Scripture together. The pastor is there to facilitate and model this balance.

In conclusion I realize that the ways in which I have been speaking about ministry is rather vague and ambiguous speaking more of principles than of concrete structures. Truth be told if I simply stated that pastoral ministry is about developing programs or organic development of a community I would be speaking to a particular context which does not pertain to all contexts. The reality of it is that I have no idea what ministry looks like or how to express the various ways it plays out in day to day life other than to describe why we do ministry and the reasons for ministry. In the last chapter of John we read of Jesus’ exchange with Peter. Jesus does not ask Peter if he has cast a vision for ministry, or if he feels compelled to serve the church. Jesus simply asks Peter, “Peter, do you love me? ‘Yes Lord I love you.’ Then feed my sheep.” In turn I will serve the body of Christ for no reason other than that I love Jesus.