ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY A THEOLOGY OF MINISTRY MINISTRY IN A SMALL UPPER MIDWEST CHURCH SUBMITTED FOR FINAL REVIEW BY TIM RANDOLPH MARCH 21, 2017
I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea. 1 - Chrysostom INTRODUCTION God became flesh and lived among us. To the regular churchgoer, this idea can easily become a Christian platitude, void of meaning or power. Yet, the absurdity of the eternal Logos entering the human realm and experience is profound. Rudolf Schnackenburg thoughtfully articulates the Incarnational reality; [The Incarnation] expresses the unmistakable paradox that the Logos who dwelt with God, clothed in the full majesty of the divinity and possessing the fullness of the divine life, entered the sphere of the earthly and human, the material and perishable, by becoming flesh. 2 As a Christian, growing into my calling to be a servant, 3 preacher, teacher and pastor in the kingdom of God, I am continually drawn to the metaphor of Incarnation for ministry to the church and world. Just as God comes to us, so I am called into the world. Without the Incarnation neither ministry nor the church would exist! I began ministry as a specialist working as a youth minister. The Incarnational approach forced me to enter the world of teenagers instead of expecting them to enter mine. Over the last 1 John Chrysostom, Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood, Book III, Trans. W. R. W. Stephens, Vol. 9, A Select Library of Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff, (New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1889) 198. 2 Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel of John: Volume One, Introduction and Commentary on Chapters 1-4, Translated by Kevin Smyth (London and New York: Burns and Oates, Herder and Herder, 1968), 268. 3 διάκονος. The term minister is synonymous with servant in Koine Greek. 2
3 few years I have transitioned into a role as a preaching minister at a single staffed, small congregation in the Upper Midwest. My context has changed, moving from a specialist, focusing on youth ministry, to generalist, focusing on all aspects of church life. Even so, the metaphor of the Incarnation still resonates and holds power for ministry in the church. For this paper, I will be using three categories adapted from Henri Nouwen s book Creative Ministry. My ministry can be defined under the categories of preaching, teaching and caring. 4 The ministry I am called to work in is among a small church of around 90 people in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I am called to regularly preach, teach and care for the congregation. While these three categories are used to summarize my work, the majority of my ministry is wrapped up in pastoral care, so the bulk of my focus will fall under the category of care. PREACHING To preach is to proclaim. 5 The preacher s task is to proclaim the great deeds of God, his coming, and his good news. Specifically, the preacher is to proclaim Christ and him crucified! 6 According to Mark s gospel, Jesus came and began his ministry proclaiming that the kingdom of God had come near. 7 Mark states that what Jesus proclaimed was good news, thus the preacher s proclamation needs to house a word of good news to the listeners. Henri Nouwen points out that, for most people there is absolutely no news in a sermon. 8 Consequently the preacher is 4 Henri J. M. Nouwen, Creative Ministry, (New York: Doubleday, 1971), 5. 5 Κηρύσσω. A verb meaning I proclaim, herald, preach. 6 1 Corinthians 2:2. All biblical references in this paper are taken from the New Revised Standard Version. 7 Mark 1:14-15. 8 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 32.
4 tasked with responsibly and creatively crafting a message that resonates and that congregants will receive as good news. Effective preaching takes hard work and a weekly discipline of schedule. A preacher has a weekly burden to proclaim a word from the Lord. There is a profound weight and responsibility in the ministry of preaching. Yet, as a sole practitioner, pulpit preaching does not encompass the entirety of my work, thus to spend hours polishing a sermon is not in my routine. With pulpit preaching comes an audience and with an audience comes temptation. There is a temptation to see preaching, because of its visibility and commanding presentation, as the minister s most important task. It is certainly important, but is not to be made an idol. The minister s identity is more than the sum of any sermon. Even so, a temptation to find my ministry identity in a well crafted sermon or in a complementary audience is always near. The temptation to be contemporary, relevant and spectacular are often masked in a humble desire to reach the community and the world. 9 The preacher, in taking an Incarnational approach to ministry, is to resist the desire to be popular and impress and seek a vocation that opens one up to solidarity with the broken and irrelevant of the world. 10 Preaching isn t limited to the pulpit on Sunday morning. When the church in Wisconsin decided to support my family and me they referred to my position as an evangelist. While I prefer the term minister over evangelist, partly due to negative stereotypes and tv preachers, I ve come to appreciate the term s biblical precedent. The word evangelist simply means to preach 9 Henri J. M. Nouwen, In The Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, (New York: Crossroads Publishing, 1989). 31-33. 10 Ibid, 35.
5 the gospel. 11 Which means the work of an evangelist takes on many functions. I am called to preach from the pulpit, lead Bible study, both on a group and personal level, and I am also called to connect with the community for the sake of the gospel. To effectively evangelize is to live out the gospel in a tangible way to love my neighbor as myself. Preaching is personal. It requires that I connect individually with members of my congregation and community. Ineffective preaching is often preaching that is impersonal. Nouwen reminds ineffective preachers that, they have failed to realize that in a very real sense they haven t loved their neighbors as themselves, since they have not taken the neighbors views and experiences as seriously as their own. 12 One of the ways that I become a better preacher is by listening. Recently, I was studying with a regular visitor of our congregation who was considering baptism. When we sat down to open our Bibles to read, she stopped me and asked if we could talk instead of study. Though I was eager to share words of scripture with her and passages I had prepared through study, I decided to listen. Her concerns took our conversation and study in a different direction. Many times, since that conversation she has commented on how much it meant that I was flexible to change plans and listen. Sometimes people need to see a sermon before they hear one. 13 To preach is to make yourself available to the world. Truly, preaching is embodying the Incarnational approach to ministry, for preaching and becoming an effective preacher involves the process of becoming human. 14 1996), 331. 11 Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 12 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 39. 13 I wrote this sentence thinking of the poem I'd Rather See A Sermon by Edgar A. Guest. The poem begins I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. 14 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 40.
6 TEACHING Jesus was called a good teacher. 15 He was not only an effective preacher but his ministry was extended to teaching. People were drawn to him. They saw him as an authority and came to him for instruction. Another task of ministry is the work of teaching. It is important for teachers of the church to know Scripture and to effectively teach. And like Jesus, humility is required to teach well. As a young teacher, with academic training, I am tempted to grow conceited. Because knowledge is power, there is a temptation for a minister to think of themselves more highly than the average congregant. 16 In Mark 10, when the rich young ruler came to Jesus he addressed him as good. In a way that only Jesus can, he deflects the title of good by saying, Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 17 As a teacher, Jesus points others to the source of goodness and truth. Teachers that wish to reflect an Incarnational approach to ministry should work to point students to the truth of God. Teachers should see knowledge of God, not as a way to personally triumph over others, but as an opportunity to share the love of God. 18 Good teachers should regularly consider the question, Does this edify the body? as they prepare to teach their congregations. 19 The body, Paul s metaphor for the church, should be important to the minister, for Christ died for her. The teacher s theological preoccupations, 15 Mark 10:17 is but one example of Jesus being called a teacher. 16 Helmut Thielicke, A Little Exercise For Young Theologians, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), 16. 17 Mark 10:18. 18 Thielicke, A Little Exercise For Young Theologians, 19. 19 William H. Willimon, Calling and Character: Virtues of the Ordained Life (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 61.
7 though they may come from an enthusiastic love for God, should only be offered to the church if it is enriching to the community of faith. Teachers in the church should heed the advice of Walter Brueggemann who advises that the reality of the community comes before any liberty, and certainly before the liberty of any autonomous individual. 20 The minister is not the head of the congregation but one member among many. Christ is the head, 21 thus he is primary, the central part and the authority for the church. 22 As a teacher, I must recognize that though I am a source of authority, I am not the sole authority nor the source of truth. The best teaching is relational. Ministers are relatable when they can effectively connect with their students, know what they need and are in relationship with them. One way we make teaching relational is by making ourselves vulnerable. Nouwen points out that we tend to run around trying to solve the problems of our world while anxiously avoiding confrontation with that reality wherein our problems find their deepest roots: our own selves. 23 Teachers must confront themselves! When I teach on a subject I ask, what are specific examples where I ve struggled with this in my life? The best teachers are wise guides. We guide people through scripture but also through the journey of life! The only way to guide another is to know them intimately and to know where they are needing to go. Ministers who teach become available to God and to others in order to grow and discern the will of God. 20 Walter Brueggemann, The Covenanted Self: Explorations of Law and Covenant (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999), 10. 21 Colossians 1:18. 22 Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today, 97-98. 23 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 17.
8 CARING Ministry cannot simply be the work of preaching and teaching. The Danish philosopher, and theologian, Søren Kierkegaard criticizes ministers who believe they are exempt from the call of the Christian life. He says, It is absolutely unethical when one is so busy communicating that he forgets to be what he teaches. 24 We must not simply be talking heads! A primary idea the Incarnation teaches us is that God is with us. 25 God is with the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the dying. Therefore, we are to be with and care for the needy. The minister cares for people because he loves the world as God does. In the Gospel of John, when Jesus asks Peter, Do you love me? In a sense, Jesus is asking, Are you with me? When Peter answers, Yes, Lord, Jesus command is feed my sheep. 26 Christ calls us to go and be with the people Jesus chose to be with. Jesus is calling us to love, serve and feed his sheep. Love isn't done from a distance. Love is not done from a pulpit nor a lecture. Love is with. In my context of ministry, I am called to be available for my congregation and community for the sake of the gospel. I am called to care. One of the ways I do this is by visiting with congregants. When I arrived in Oshkosh my wife and I used the church directory and began to line up visits and meals with members and families of the congregation. We wanted to know the congregation; not just on Sunday mornings but we wanted to be part of their lives. Early on, we would have them over to our house, but our desire was to enter their world and visit them in their domain. Though our visits were casual and for fellowship, it was the 24 Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, ed. Charles E. Moore (Farmington, Pa.: The Plough Publishing House, 1999), 350. 25 Matthew 1:23. Jesus is named Emmanuel which means, God is with us. 26 The conversation between Peter and Jesus comes from John 21:15-25.
9 development of the relationship that were the building blocks of pastoral trust and care. Just recently, I visited a lady who just found out that a portion of one of her vital organs was no longer viable. I had visited her prior on multiple occasions for dinner and conversation. Though this visit was much more serious, I did not feel like a stranger in her home nor did she perceive me as one. Her hospitality and receiving me came from a relationship built through our mutual love in Jesus. We spoke of her health, we made small talk, shared past experiences and prayed. Love is with. Early on in ministry I struggled to know what to do when visiting someone who was sick or in the hospital. As a minister, I knew that I was supposed to go and visit but I felt ill at ease. What should I say? How long should I stay? How do I bring them comfort? What I have learned since then is that I am called to listen. Listening must come before words, even words of comfort. Depending upon the severity of the patient s hospital stay, sometimes less is more. There is an art to saying nothing, to holding a hand and simply being with people. Prayer is always appropriate. If on a Sunday, or with a small gathering of members prior to an operation, sharing the Eucharist together is meaningful. Love is with. One cannot be a Christian without being a minister. 27 Another facet of care and guidance is leading others into ministry of their own. As Christian s we are called to see our lives as vocational who I am, my career, hobbies and relationships; 28 all are reas of our lives in which we submit to the lordship of Jesus. The ordained minister has the task of speaking a word of hope and direction into the lives of the congregants. 27 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 116. 118. 28 Kathleen A. Cahalan, Introducing the Practice of Ministry, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2010),
10 In full time ministry, I have found it difficult to be both professional and personal. I ve learned to be vulnerable for the sake of someone else, giving them room to open themselves up to me. 29 Nouwen reminds ministers that we can never really minister to our brothers and sisters when we are unwilling to deny ourselves in order to create the space where the God who dwells within us can work. Ultimately, a sustainable ministry is only possible if ministers care for themselves. Right out of Bible college I recall sitting at my desk, in my new office at the church building, wondering what in the world I was supposed to do. How do I minister? I had lots of tools and training, which I put to use, but after a while I began to feel overwhelmed by ministry. Over the last year, I have begun to visit with a spiritual director. Spiritual direction has helped me contemplate the ups and the downs of everyday life and the presence of the sacred that is found in me. Cultivating the spiritual disciplines within me has been monumental for my selfcare. Willimon warns us that there are great temptations to neglect those habits of study, sabbatical, and nurture that enable us to keep going. 30 Learning to rest is essential. Dorothy Bass reminds us that good Sabbaths make good Christians. 31 As a minister I must regularly stop and tend to my soul. The preacher must preach from the overflow coming from deep wells and not from dryness and fatigue. The faithful teacher can only teach from a knowing that comes from an intimate relationship with God. Ministry, especially pastoral care, is best done as 29 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 56. 30 Willimon, Calling and Character, 118. 31 Dorothy C. Bass, Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People, 2 nd ed, (San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2010), 87.
11 a response of habit and ingrained patterns of spiritual discipline in our lives. 32 CONCLUSION The minister preaches, teaches and cares for his congregation and community not out of compulsion, contract or promise of change from those they serve, but because of the covenantal love of God. 33 God is faithful. God s faithfulness to us is not because we are faithful to God. Faithfulness is part of who God is. Nouwen says it well; God did not offer us a contract but a covenant, and challenges those who want to make this covenant visible in this world to never make human success a criterion of their love for others. 34 My love for my congregation and the world must be unconditional, for God s love is unconditional to us. If I preach, teach or care out of obligation I will eventually burn out. The Incarnational, self-emptying of Christ serves as an invitation to empty myself of all pride, and humbly lay down my life out of love for another. 35 There is a temptation to distort the Incarnational model for ministry. Ministers are tempted to see themselves more highly than they should. To see oneself as a savior or to simply reduce the gospel to an ethic of living, is to limit the power of the Incarnation and the Christian s call to self-denial and cross-bearing. The task of Christian ministry cannot simply be done out of a 32 Willimon, Calling and Character, 34. 33 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 63-64. 34 Ibid, 65. 35 Ibid, 115.
12 strong moral character or work ethic. It must be rooted in the Incarnational commitment to lay down one s own life for friends 36 and the service of the world. 37 Learning to find my identity as a Christian minister has been a process of acquiring a balance between character and work ethic alongside self-denial and cross-bearing. After ten years in full-time ministry, I have discovered that my ministerial identity has been formed through having one foot in academics by working on my graduate degree, and one foot in church ministry. My maturity in ministry is owed in part by pouring into myself through formal formation through schooling, thus allowing me to be poured out for the service of the Kingdom. Nouwen aptly sums up the life of ministry: Through long and often painful formation and training, we ministers have to find our place in life, to discover our own contribution, and to affirm our own self: not to cling to it and claim it as our own unique property, but to go out, offer our services to others, and empty ourselves so that God can speak through us and invite others to a new life. 38 My prayer is that I continue to grow in my knowledge and love of Christ, the Holy Scriptures and his church so that I may be poured out for his sake. 36 John 15:13. 37 Nouwen, Creative Ministry, 116. 38 Ibid, 59.
Works Cited Bass, Dorothy C. Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People, 2 nd ed. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. New York: HarperCollins, 1989. Brueggemann, Walter. The Covenanted Self: Explorations of Law and Covenant. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999. Cahalan, Kathleen A. Introducing the Practice of Ministry. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2010. Chrysostom, John. Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood. Books 1-5. Translated by W. R. W. Stephens. Vol. 9. A Select Library of Nicene And Post- Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Ed. Philip Schaff. New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1889. Ferguson, Everett. The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996. Kierkegaard, Søren. Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard. Ed. Charles E. Moore. Farmington, PA: The Plough Publishing House, 1999. Nouwen, Henri. Creative Ministry. New York: Doubleday, 1971. Nouwen, Henri. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. New York: Crossroads Publishing, 1989. Schnackenburg, Rudolf. The Gospel of John: Volume One, Introduction and Commentary on Chapters 1-4. Translated by Kevin Smyth. London and New York: Burns and Oates, Herder and Herder, 1968. Thielicke, Helmut. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962. Willimon, William. Calling and Character: Virtues of the Ordained Life. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000.