Making the ALL in all-member ministry real!

One regular topic for conversation (when it's not funerals) is that of making 'all-member ministry' mean what it says!

The conversations can be condensed into two distinct categories (the first being perhaps the most ironic):

Laity who won't share the toys

Clergy who won't share the toys

On the surface it seems that those who are 'doing the stuff' are unwilling to share that role but it's not quite as simple as that. Let's look at some of the tales and hopefully the increase in understanding will start to clear the log jams. We will do a story a day -

Story the first
In one church there was a strong lay ministry group (they were not lay ministers in the 'authorsied ministry' sense) with areas of responsibility for various of the areas within the church (pastoral, prayer, music, teaching, evangelism, etc.). This group regarded themselves to effectively cover all the roles of the Vicar (with the exception of Communion) and they saw themselves as running the church.

Had we the privilege of looking at the minutes of their monthly meeting we would have found that whilst the Sunday service happened, little else did! In reality this group was largely ineffective in terms of anything other than keeping the lights on. Those who came forward, especially those who were not part of the power base that was the team, were sent empty away with various reasons (for there was always a reason) given for the fact that they couldn't join in the ministry.

Of course the reality was that although these people were doing little, they had the power and were not going to give it up or even share it! (The first of our reasons for impotent all-member ministry)

A church member, who we will call 'A', came to see the person responsible for prayer in the church and told them how they felt God was calling them to lead intercessions and be someone who was engaged in the prayer ministry of the church. This request was met with a refusal on the grounds that they needed to be trained before they could do that.

Not to be put off 'A' asked what the training was and when they might be able to do it only to be met with the response that, 'The course hadn't been created  yet, but when they had, they'd let them know!' And so the prayer area was once again safe from the incursion of 'unapproved' members and the power remained where it was.

Some time later, when people were praying for one another in the service, the prayer leader came up to 'A' (who was praying for someone) and stopped them because they were not permitted to do that!

Now, I am assured that there were no spiritual reasons, no obvious sin, no chequered history or any other impediment that caused this person to be stopped - it was all about power and authority!

Not long after this episode the minister of the church left, leaving the 'team' to maintain their position of power, and the people to be dominated by them.

The happy note to this story is that the new minister came in and after a few twists and turns 'A' was encouraged to lead the intercessions during the service - and they were amazing. Their prayers matched the sermon and readings and touched people greatly.

Now this story speaks volumes of the faithfulness of 'A' in that they continued in the church and patiently waited until the call to be a prayer in the church was recognised, encouraged and released.

It speaks of the potential for those engaged in an area of ministry, and perhaps especially for those who see themselves as 'leaders'*, to seek to make it their possession and the means by which they are given power and authority.

It fires a warning shot across the bows of those who lead and those who volunteer. The minister, resigned to the fact that the exclusive clique that was the leadership team were running an exclusive and almost totalitarian state within the church, left them to do what they did with the service because it was the path of least resistance which brought the minimum of conflict. (our second point in this journey!)

I'll leave you to think about this scenario - and welcome any anecdotes, observations and learning points from you.

Happy Thursday

* I have met many who want to be 'up front' and to be applauded and recognised - even fostering the dream that one day they will be the doyen of thousands, out there and being applauded for their sterling ministry and shining life - the problem is that what they brought was valid, worthy and potentially beneficial to the Church, but was self-serving rather than seeking to serve Christ. This is a challenge to us all to examine ourselves and our reasons to be offering ourselves for ministry. As ever we return to one question: Who am I doing this for?

Being Collared (3) - All Member Ministry

Being ordained is an interesting reality because there are so many people out there who see Church as a clerical entity. The old days of 'Father knows best' may have (thankfully) gone but there are many who would like it to continue, albeit in a modified form, and not all of these wear dogcollars!

I get to talk to quite a few people who are keen to see the clergy:

• Bring people into the church
• Build up the congregation's numbers
• Manage the finances such that the Parish Share is paid

and more besides.

On the other side of the line, there are many clergy who would like to see the congregation members:

• Fulfil their baptismal calling - reading, praying and sharing the Good News of Jesus, the Christ
• Witness to those around them and bring them into the church family
• Pay just a little bit more so that the Parish Share can be met

And, again, more besides.

Recently, engaged with a rather tired and frustrated cleric I realised that the goal of the all-member ministry church where the tasks are taken up by those in the pews who are seeking to find their calling, ministry and passions and engage with them to build up the Church and themselves is not the universal 'holy grail' I had hoped it was. 

For this person's understanding of all-member ministry was: 'Do what you want!'

Interestingly, their understanding of 'being collegial' was: 'I'll let you!'

Now, it may come as no surprise to find that the cleric in question was one of those exceedingly clever clergy who had managed to 'get their church down to a manageable size' by the exercise of their visionary ministry. When pressed further the familiar mantra that 'it's easier to do the job yourself' was to be heard - and this is true, for:

• sharing the needs
• demonstrating what's required
• watching someone else have a go
• watching them fail
• picking up the pieces (and making it work)
• picking up the volunteer and dusting them off
• explaining it all again
• doing it with them
• watching them do it (knowing you could have done it quicker, better and . . . )
• dealing with the 'concerned' people (who could have done it better but never volunteer)

All takes time. After all, who else would do this sort of thing with volunteers?

Oh yeah, Jesus!

For many years I have heard church members tell me how much they wish the Vicar didn't do 'everything' (some have added 'so well') and have moaned at whosoever would listen about how they could do it (and better). Now I have tried for years to get them to do that but invariably the money has never been put where the negativity and moan was. In fact, some of the most promising people have been the biggest curse in this area - for having ability and opportunity and still managing to step aside from the task and take up the moaning role is, I'm sorry to say this, nothing less than a curse.

Now, if you're a church member and have thought you could do something in church were you given the chance - God has heard your prayers and delivered 'All Member Ministry' to the building you call 'church'. 

Clergy - open your arms, put down your heavy loads and take the time to teach the people how to do the stuff that needs doing (yes, I know it is harder than doing it, but this 'lazy man's load' will pay dividends later).

Congregations - look at what's going on and where you see a need you can meet, stick your hand up and shout, 'Pick Me!' You'll struggle (even if it's only because of the dogcollar) but you'll soon find yourself equipped, released and seeking others to work alongside you (because there's no point in starting a mini clericalism model now, is there?) and the church will grow and be a place of joy.

 . . . and the Vicar can go fishing ;-)

All-member Ministry

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a cleric in possession of a calling, must be in want of a church filled with people who are enthused, engaged, equipped and released.

This is, I'm sure, how any manual of church leadership written by Jane Austen would have begun - with a simple undeniable truth. So why do I find myself musing over the situation whereby those who, having offered themselves, been accepted, trained and released to engage in that Church ministry, called 'Lay', find themselves ignored and largely unused?

William Temple, one of my many heroes, once said that we, the Church, 'Were the only organisation that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.' This summation of the missional role of the Church, its donning of the mantle called 'servanthood', when combined with doing evangelism and living collegially becomes, in my view, complete.

Jesus came to earth to fulfil the expectations of those who were the then Church's members - the Jews, expectations. He also came to earth for those who were not members. servant to all of creation those inside and out. Temple's quote calls us to look outside of ourselves and the body called 'Church' and the problem is that some of us have taken this so much to heart that we have forgotten perhaps to look inside and treasure those we have within.

It is easy for some of us to become so taken up with ourselves, 'Our ministry' and 'Our Church' that we draw everything to us - seeing the church we are part of as ours as a possessive rather than participative. Collaborative ministry is the only way in which Temple's words can be truly fulfilled. If we do not seek out and encourage callings in others then we are destined to be managers of decline rather than ministers of love, life and acceptance.

Can I encourage those who might read this to stop for a moment and consider those who stand with you in your churches and celebrate the fact that they are there - pray for them and talk to them.

Might I further encourage you to work at developing the callings of those alongside and within your church - it's dangerous and painful at times - but I reckon that's no different to the ministry of Jesus.

Finally, can I encourage you to look at the many roles and responsibilities within the church you inhabit and, prayerfully, seek to discern what might be done by others and, that done, work at enabling, encouraging and supporting the members of the church to make them theirs.

As for me - I need to understand how to utilise those who have offered themselves in ways that fulfil and bless and help then to develop their ministries and deepen their joy.

Pax

Exploring Vocations: Saturday is just an ordinary day

Today began, as most days do, with the daily office's morning prayer. That done it quickly moved through a variety of encounters and engagements which dealt with funeral arrangements and the church's Autumn Fair before moving onto again to more stuff. The reason for writing this is to help some of those I'm engaged with in exploring vocations to understand that Saturday is never to be regarded as 'a day off' (even when some of my colleagues most foolishly bill it as such).

In the same way that some people tell me that having meetings on an evening means that they have to attend having, 'Already worked during the day,' the same is true of Saturday if you're going to take the King's shilling and head into ministry. My warning is simple (a bit like me) in that unless you're willing to do the job, don't take the bob (a reference to the King's shilling as paid when entering military service)!

This is how it goes (officially):

We work on a Sunday - but it is not the only day, despite the many jokes (which you will have to smile at for the rest of your life).

We have a day off during the week(Although some diocesan guidelines now apparently give you on two day off period a month).

The other days are working days where one-third of the day is yours and the rest is work time.

So there you have it - you can take a morning or afternoon off if you're going to be working in the evening but the bottom line is that it's five days and a Sunday as the normal working week.

I hope this gives those of you contemplating a call to ministry something to think about and explains my raised eyebrows over it, 'Just being Sunday and a 'bit' of time during the week!' comment - you know who you are ;-).

For those of you who are not exploring a vocation, I hope what you've just read above fills in some of the gaps and helps you to value the work hours that so many of the clergy put in to build, maintain and bless the church and those whom they seek to serve in the communities around them.

Perhaps you might like to pray for those who are exploring their own vocations to ministry and pray also for all those faithful men and women who minister in the Church - lay and ordained, paid and unpaid - for we are all co-workers and family.

*An ordinary day filled, as are each and every day in this wonderful life of ministering in the light and life of Christ, with extraordinary people.

Pax

Back in the groove

Normal service has been resumed and the holidays are fast on their way to becoming a memory as dawn breaks and the first service of the day beckons as I ponder the challenges, opportunities and blessings before me. After the early communion elsewhere we have a joint service with the local Methodist church a joyful event indeed in which we say goodbye to one of ours as they head for a gap year in India.

My diary has been steadily filling over the past few days and my dance card is almost full, and that's excellent on one hand and frustrating on the other, if only there were more hands to man the pump and free me up to do more. All-member ministry is an essential 'must have' if the Church is to function as it should and the role of the clergy in training, equipping and releasing the members is obvious as a practical measure and even more so as a spiritual one. My biggest desire is to see people come to faith and fulfil the calling on their lives. The joy of seeing people take up the challenges before them is something that never diminishes.

Today there will be so many people doing so many things in the services that will be taking place and I thank God for them and the common life and purpose we share. Today people will lead, read, pray, preach, hand out hymn books, make refreshments, teach Sunday School and do communion. They will carry crosses and candles swing thirubles, sing in choirs, play organs and more besides and I thank God for them and their selfless commitment and service as we, the Church, come to worship.

As the day unfolds may the power of the risen Christ touch you and His Holy Spirit enable, heal and bless you.

May we stand together as one and live in the reality of Church as family and friends.

May God bless you richly :-)

Church - Just shut up and get on with the job!

Why (I hear you all cry)?

The reason is simple. A couple of days back I wrote these most innocent words:

"Lower clergy numbers can mean a stronger and enabled and released laity and from this a flourishing Church."

OK, I guess I could have finished the sentence with . . . "can be the result," but I didn't as I was rushing out to attend a gathering of mission-minded types (more about that later). But my grammar (or lack of it) wasn't the reason for the brickbat. What has caused the anger is that I think there can be anything positive about the reductions in stipendiary clergy.

So here we go:

The reality is that the days of having a stipendiary minister in the majority of our church buildings are coming to an end. The 'Parson in every parish' and even the parochial system as it has been since the first of the enclosure Act (and subsequent inclosure Acts) came to be are surely soon to be something from days gone by.

What we have before us is a situation whereby congregations (AKA 'churches') will find themselves with a Non-Stipendiary Minister (also known as a SSM - Self Supporting Minister) or an Ordained Local Minister (OLM) in the ministerial role. Alongside them will be a stipendiary, that is paid, full-time, minister who will support, pastor and guide that church and a few others (in what we will call 'clusters').

This model will mean that the members of the church will need to become mobilised and motivated (and trained, equipped and released) to do many of the roles that hitherto have been, generally, left to the 'paid' help. The gifts of the Spirit that serve the whole (rather than exalt the individual) will need to be in evidence in those who call themselves 'Church'. The desire, and ability, to take the Gospel out of the church doors and into the streets, homes, schools, workplaces and places of leisure and relaxation will need to be made an everyday reality for every member.

Yes indeedy people, this is the century where the Church returns to its roots and we see 'all-member ministry' become 'ALL MEMBER ministry!'. An exciting prospect and one that is perhaps just a little scary because:

1. Those who are stipendiary will have to become effective evangelists, teachers, pastors and spirit-led.

2. Those who are non-stipendiary will need to become well-rounded shepherds of the flock they are charged to pastor. They will need to be more than adequate teachers and caring pastors who are not only Spirit-led but can lead others into that reality AND be willing, able and desirous of the evangelistic role. The local church will need to be effective in evangelism and community involvement and will need to become the prayer houses that Church has always supposed to have been.

3. The members will need to become 'MEMBERS'! A bunch of enthusiastic, prayer-filled, Spirit-led and equipped, motivated and mobilised people. The club is closing and in it's place we are opening drill halls (with a great line in bread and wine, a 'brothers arms' reality that looks like family and and a place to party together when the battle is done).

Yes it's going to be a potentially exciting and enlivening time. 'Church' will mean what it should - the corporate (corporeal?) Body of Christ being 'militant here on earth'.

Simples

Exciting

Blinking Hard Work

Amazing times of triumph and telling of stories in the bar afterwards.

Medal ceremony for those who have been in when we are 'needing them not just feeding them' will take place just after our Commanding Officer arrives back ;-)

Volunteers - Communicating the Need

One of the most interesting comments in what has been a most interesting week so far (can't believe it's only Wednesday as the week so far has been crammed full of so much!) has bee that of a stressed cleric regarding the needs in their place of worship.

"I can't get them (the congregation) to understand what needs to be done or get them to do it!"

There was this church with loads of opportunities for people to get involved and yet they not only didn't want tio but (apparently) didn't seem to understand why they should be doing it anyway! A nightmare scenario indeed.

So I asked questions (as I do) and got answers (which often I don't) and it went like this:

So what needs doing? The answer to this covered the areas of outreach, children's work, music and doing general tasks in and around the service. It appeared that there were always people who were willing to have the jobs on the stage but when it came to being out of sight or engaged with people who were not church the volunteers all cried off. Many of those asked had done various roles when they'd first come to the church and were reticent to pick them up again. "Done that before" and "Don't have the time' were the top two responses.

In a time when we are looking at reducing clergy numbers the clergy are being blessed with the opportunity of engaging, equipping and releasing the laity (you know - God's people) to fulfil their baptismal calling and become the evangelistic, church-maintaining, church-growing people that they are meant to be. This is our (those who have been 'collared') opportunity to raise up a generation who will engage the world and take (and make) the Gospel real in it. To set people on fire for God such that others will come to watch them burn!

But of course there's the problem with volunteers in that whilst they can be enlisted and tasked with various aspects of being Church, many will submissively take the roles and produce little fruit ("I'm sorry it hasn't been done but I'VE been busy Vicar"). Some of my suggestions had been tried and when whatever it was hadn't happened the response was something along the lines of, "But at the end of the day that's your job isn't it?"

The person in question had come up with an amazing strategy for the church and its problems; They were going to leave! The intended destination was a flourishing church with teams for everything and a life where they, the minister, could spend time reading the Bible, praying and writing sermons. The problem is that they weren't opting out for an easy life but were opting in for a place which would see them establish some security of mind, body and spirit and have them working shoulder-to-shoulder with those who were seeking to build the Church.

A really lovely person came up to me recently and pointed out some areas that 'we' could be engaged in. My response was to applaud the fact that they were open and aware to the needs of the community and I asked how I might help them engage with this. The response was: "Oh, I'm not looking to do it, but I thought you ought to know so that you could!"

The problem before us is one of communicating the needs and helping those around us to understand that the needs exist and the solution stares at them in the mirror every morning. Older congregations are a great resource and newer members (give me twenty new believers and we can take the world) are a blessing but the job is there for all of us. But we can't try the 'embarrass the members' model (which some do) and we can no longer merely assign jobs (as in the 'Father knows best' model) but we can take someone and show them the needs and point them in areas where their passion is (or perhaps once was) and rekindle a fire within them.

So the answer to this? I don't have a clue!

I meet more and more clergy who are doing more with less and they are, generally, responding by closing stuff. Youth groups that were twice weekly now happen once a week. Coffee mornings have ceased and cloth is being cut accordingly. Where we had a church which was engaged with the outside world we are seeing the congregations huddle nearer and nearer the fire to escape the chill winds of mission and engagement outside.

But the future is bright - just wish this cleric was for all I have is a Bible and a desire to reach those outside and and use those inside tho be the vehicles of evangelism, social action and engagement.

As I say - been a long and exhausting week so far - still two hundred plus children are before me today as I engage with 'Open Door' in the parish church and the opportunities for conversation and the sowing of seeds with teachers, parents and the general populace outside the doors of the building has me buzzing and expectant.

Hallelujah!

Ordination - Is there an easy route please?

Had an interesting conversation with someone today regarding an easier path to being ordained. They didn't want to go to college and weren't sure they wanted to go to any form of 'selection' conference because it sounded a bit stressful. Not only that but they only wanted to be ordained and remain in their 'sending' church (where they were already working and doing services.

I asked one of my favourite questions (after the 'how' and 'why' questions), "What would ordination do for you and what could you do without it that you couldn't do now?" The response was a new one for me because the answer was, "Nothing - I'm already doing it now!'

Impressed I asked the questions:

Leading services - Yep!

Worship - Yep!

Praying - Yep!

Preaching - Yep!

Involved in the communion service - Yep (and in fact they told me they were already 'doing communion' when their minister was away)!!

I asked where they were (outside of our diocese) and why they'd called me (because someone they know knows me and thought I'd be able to advise) and then got more involved with the more pressing questions after which it transpired that they were in a multi-benefice setup and the clerical person had told them that they needed to get ordained so they could 'formalise' what they were doing. After more discussion I realised that what they wanted was to be ordained to the group of churches and those alone (what we call an ordained local minister where we are) and no more.

I've suggested that they have a chat to a local ministry advisor in their own patch or even arrange an introduction to their DDO. Oddly, what I find interesting here is that this conversation appears to have been prompted by a cleric who was looking to make their local help more official and I can understand why (five churches in the group is reason enough) but I am also left wondering what I could have done further?

It was only a couple of days ago that I was in a group where I brought up the increasing desire to convert any adequate or able lay person into a minister because of the workloads and pressures and here I am perhaps facing yet another of this being flesh in this instance.

I'm left wondering what some clergy see ordination as being and how they discern calling?

Gis' us a clue? Has anyone else encountered anything like this I wonder?

Pax

Thought for the day

What do Vicars do?

Spot on!

Don't you just love Saturdays?

The clerical life often means that, being someone under authority, we find ourselves coming and going at the behest of others and are controlled by the demands and expectations of ministry. Today, even though it be a Saturday, is no different from any other in that respect.

So fat today I've done my daily office, some paperwork and general administration, a 50th Wedding anniversary breakfast (which ended at 13:00) and then collected a couple of chairs for a previously homeless (thank you again Tamworth Borough council) person, collected some more furniture, wrote some poetry for use in a service, put the finishing touches to a couple of services that are coming up and now got time to check the final scores and have a cup of tea before going off to do another event elsewhere (which will be fun). Whoops - missed the writing the 'stage management' of a service to ensure that people are in the right place at the right time doing the right (or at least the same) things. Then putting together the final touches and running through (in head - a most cluttered and rubbish-strewn place) the 'Future of the church' meeting material for tomorrow night (so far people have asked if I'm leaving, the Lord is coming back or we're going to close - all of which might be . . . . . . )

Oh no, you'll have to come to the meeting to find out!!!

So, a word to the wise. Don't approach your dogcollar, pastor, cleric, priest, minister or apostle )or any other name you might choose to label them with) and suggest that the role is an hour or two on a Sunday. You might just end up hearing the truth.

So. Why not tell the person who pastors your flock how much you appreciate them tommorow?

THEN

Find the Mrs (or Mr) Vicarage and applaud the fact that without their love, input and presence much of what happens in our churches would never happen!

Thank God for the person who supports, cares, picks up the missed bit, mends the broken bits and generally makes the clergyperson look as if they knew what they were doing. Then thank God for providing them and loving us more :)

Pax

Pioneer Ministry - 1

Mention this and you usually get the question, "What is it?" or perhaps, "Who does it?"

The most common definitions appears to be that a 'Pioneer Minister' is 'a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others' and so pioneer ministry is 'doing and being Church where no Church is to be found'.

The reality is that once this country knew the Bible stories, understood the times and seasons and was the physical embodiment of the Christian message. Then, following a couple of World Wars, this situation started to change and secularism and its servant consumerism began to rise up. The situation now is that amongst the indigenous british citizen (and they are white multi-generational british not immigrants as many seem to assume) the situation is the many have no idea what Christmas of Easter is truly about and the stories some assume as being commonplace are untold and thus unknown!

The problem is that some, not all, of those in the organised church assumes that anything new must look like it and must bring people into it (and quickly!) whilst others in the pioneer church assume that whatever it is it must not look like organised church and thus they are free from the constraints and demands of the former. This causes some to sneer when dog-collars in 'organised church' say that all are pioneers, because, "If they were, where are the new members, where are the new congregations!" Some claim that the organised church dog-collars are merely archaic protectionists who are frightened by the new breed of bright young (and not so young) things that are coming to do Church in a new and 'real' way!

In return, there are many established dog-collars who see the unstructured, 'let's do coffee', abstract efforts of some of the pioneers as unproductive, elitist and separatist. "They want Church on their terms and set themselves us as something different and better that us," whined one cleric recently. The reason for this being that they'd tried to embrace (not physically) someone doing 'pioneering' and been totally blown off by them!

The aim of pioneer ministry is to create congregations (gatherings) of people who know Christ, accept that He died for them and live within all the traditional tenets of the Christian faith but perhaps in ways that are not traditional or within traditional buildings. The hope is that at some stage the two will coalesce - but in partnership not ownership! The work of pioneering is carried out in people that are wild and separate from God (just like the open prairies of the Wester US). The desire is to see them 'become Church' not 'Come to Church' and you know when a pioneer settlement has become Church because it will possess within it it the two Anglican sacraments (oooh, using the term sacrament often throws some into a flat spin - too possessive, too controlling, 'not what we are about man!') of baptism and communion.

Pioneer ministry is about doing what Church has always done, meeting the people where they are and helping them to recognise the hand of God on their lives and come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is not the panacea for that formidable parish share, neither is it a declaration of independence from the rest of the (tired, old and irrelevant) Church - it is yet another facet of the ministry of the Church and, as per Eph 4:11, gives us:

Apostles (ἀπόστολος)
Prophets (προφήτης)
Evangelists (εὐαγγελιστής)
Pastors (ποιμήν), and
Teachers (διδάσκαλος)

Not in isolation but in partnership. In an army you need bayonets (infantry), bridges (engineers), communications (signallers), medics, people who can 'soften' up the enemy and their positions before the bayonets go in (artillery), understanding of the enemy, their strength and tactics (Intelligence) and some AFvs too (why walk to war when you can ride?). Some of these are regular, some of these are volunteer reserves - but we need to have a 'one army' approach if we are to fight well and work together.

Seems this is a lesson some within Church circles could do with learning!

Pax

Can't you see I'm special?

A colleague told me how they had struggled with one of the people they engage with from time to time over the fact that, when faced with something they don't like, they always returned to the same old strategy. Regardless of the issue, they would merely resort to the, "If you do that then I'm going to resign from the ministry team. See how you will get on then when you have lost me," gambit.

the person was sure that without them, the church would fall empty, broken and hollow to the ground. They were sure that because of the many gifts, skills and abilities (well actually, sometimes it's just being there and being able to give time) they had, the church would crash and burn if they left. Sadly, this proved to be a very mistaken viewpoint.

The question, "What would you do without me?" has been answered, I would guess, fairly consistently since 'Church' first began. The answer is simple and perhaps, especially for the threatee (ie. the person who makes the threats), a little saddening in that it is 'we will just carry on as we always have. Bye! Of course this is not true for often the church, and the minister (AKA the 'threatened') that has lost the person making the threats carries on as an even happier place.

Nothing cramps the life and ministry of a church more than someone who wants to continually hold it to ransom. It is for this reason that during my training we were told that if anyone ever comes to us and tells us that they will be leaving unless {insert cause), 'call' (not usually God it transpires with hindsight] of complaint, accept it with both hands and rejoice (but not too much of course, have to be kind).

The only person the Church cannot do without is, of course, Christ!

I have been in churches that have lost some key members over the span of my Christian walk thus far and the wonderful thing is that as the 'special' people leave, the ordinary take their place! On a number of occasions I have seen the star turns leave and the pathetic, 'ordinary' little people come forward and take their place with humility and a genuine call to that role. It was only because the 'special' people made themselves special by making the rest of the church less than special that they looked good. Away from the church, having taken their toys and left, it is startling to see that in fact, like the Emperor in the story, they are naked!

So, as we look at the call on our life, may we always keep in mind that Church is all about Jesus, not us. The old chestnut about placing our hand in water and then removing it and examining the hole that is left as a measure of how much we will be missed. (i.e. not at all).

The day we think we are 'the' person in any church is the day we have misplaced the call upon us (and this is not just for ordained folk, this applies to us all, for we all have before us our baptismal calling) and the fact that it is jesus who is special and the people of God who are precious.

The day we threaten to leave to get what we want (or prevent what we don't want) is the day that we should expect to be said goodbye to.

So let's make sure we never get there, eh?

All Member Ministry - 'free range'

One of the most interesting all member ministry models I come across is the 'free range' congregation model!

The members of the church, fellowship or gathering are encouraged to take up, and act upon, any project or activity that God lays on their hearts. All the members need to do is identify the need and full support is given.

At first hearing this sounds like the ultimate in laid back, facilitative leadership. Not a hint of top-down, Father knows best, leadership here. In fact there is in a 'worst case' model, sadly, little or no leadership present and what we really have is a form of anarchy. But it is popular anarchy in that it attracts people who have been subject to strong, firm or directive leadership in the past.

Where I encountered the worst example of this, the attitude was that if it was of God, it would fly, and if not then it would fall. The problem was that some fell because aside from good intentions there was little in the way of training, equipping or management from the dog-collar.

The church had a buzz to it and the people were all active and engaged and there were many success stories, but just as many failures (mainly untold) too! A great model if you have people who can withstand the pain of failing (although failing wasn't a problem here) and you can pay the parish share and afford the many projects.

A good model if there is lots of prayer, support for those engaging and a leadership with the mindset of venture capitalists. A dangerous model if you don't have a church full of professional or mildly able 'go getters' - can quickly turn into anarchy and it looks a lot like 'dangerous play' - but here we have always encouraged that as parents (with us safely waiting in the background).

With a good support structure and a balanced approach, this is a great model. Of course without management there is the danger of being subject to whims and knee-jerk responses and seeing the membership so stretched that in the end they achieve nothing and Implode (or melt away). Not permission for a dog-collar to do less but a challenge to be more engaged and active in a diverse manner.

Pax

All Member Ministry - Part the first

Following on from the 'Father knows best' model we are now residing in a period of glasnost whereby we enjoy the privilege and benefits of 'All Member Ministry' (AMM). This is the means by which the members of a fellowship, congregation or church are equipped, enabled and released to do the work of the Church.

Well, that's the theory anyway, but as is often the case, the reality is not always the same as what it says on the packet! Recently I have come across a few variations on the theme and thought I'd ponder them in this safe (ie. away from public gaze) place:

The Stage Manager

This appears to be the most common performance model in that the dog-collar has an idea about something that 'the church' could be engaged in and having investigated the needs, found a way to meet them and established a time and place to do the meeting of the needs takes it to the church council.

The church council, applaud loudly and approve the idea as sound and it is taken to the church with a communal sense of 'here we are, send them!'- a quote from Isaiah 6:8, Not Committed Version (NCV).

The church listens, rapt with concern and inspired to respond, as the needs of 'the lost' are paraded before them. They gasp with amazement at the ways the newly exposed needs might be met and praise God that the church will be making a difference where they are. Oddly, though, few come forward to volunteer their time and energies and those who do turn out to be the same people who are doing everything else. Still, the task is passed over to those who have volunteered and a few people are 'invited' to join in (this is a special dog-collar trick whereby people are given the job but the victim somehow feels they've invited!).

A first meeting is held and ideas (usually from the dog-collar or one of the over-committed) are batted around for a bit and the project is underway. A second meeting is held and ideas are batted around, people apologise for not having done the preparatory work, others apologise for the fact that they will be visiting family on the date set for the first iteration of the project and they agree to meet again. At a third meeting the dog-collar suggests a few things and tells the gathered group that the venue is set, the programme is set and all is in place for the first attempt at meeting whatever the need was when they first started planning.

On the day, the dog-collar and a few of the over-committed turn up and the first event takes place. It is a success (in the same way that there is no such thing as a bad parish weekend away) and the following Sunday the dog-collar parades 'the leader' (or even the team) and the assembled gathering applaud at what 'All Member Ministry' has achieved.

Content that the members now believe they have discovered, planned and executed a wonderful piece of work, the dog-collar applauds with the congregation, content that yet another piece of stage management has proved successful.

Those who get the applaud feel pleased and yet slightly confused that they are being recognised.

Those who were already over-committed realise that the applause signals even less time for themselves or their family (is it any wonder some kids rebel against the very same church that committed their parents energies away from them as kids?).

Those who are applauding really think that the church is 'active' and that the members are running the show.

Only the dog-collar, the gardener and the little house know the truth*

Pax

* If this sentence confuses you, it's a reference to Bill and Ben (the flowerpot Men!)