Last Friday I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion at the Baylor School of Social Work. Our panel was comprised of the students in the Church and Community Ministry project that seeks to determine the needs and practices of churches engaged in community ministry. Our panel was made up of pastors from various churches in Waco, a lay leader and a staff member who is a Master of Social Work graduate now working on a church staff. As a "denominational" employee I was the oddball!
The first question may have been the most difficult. "What does ministry mean for you and what does it look like outside the walls of the church?" Our non-Baptist pastor really helped here. She said that their church had no walls unless we were talking about the building. I got to thinking about the "walls" of a typical Baptist church. Except for Church Under the Bridge, Church on the Lot, and other opportunities to meet people where they actually live, the rest of our "churches" have buildings of some kind or another.
Additionally, many churches have walls that actually inhibit our communion with our community. Maybe the term ministry is the problem. One of my hobbies is to review web pages. It is fascinating how many churches use the term ministry only for the kinds of services they provide to their members. It is the rare occasion that I find one that lists "Missions Ministry". These churches have discovered that ministry is more than service (Galatians 5:13) that is provided to church members.
Missions Ministry (if we have to use that term) pushes us outside a "country club" atmosphere to engage our culture and our world. Missions may include our neighborhood, our community or our world. For me, missions and ministry are the same thing. According to Luke 10:27, we are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as your self" (NASB). We will get to "neighbors" at another time.
So what does ministry mean? Hopefully, it is more than what we do for ourselves but it is what we are with and for others.
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