The How of Ministry

Art is it, the how of ministry that is.

OK, I am prejudiced because I am an artist. I see the visual arts as the way to connect to other people. Art for me is a portal for service, a means of communication, a way to attract and unite people. I discovered art ministry by doing art ministry. I found it was a window to understanding people’s needs. For me it meant seeing the needs of teens from broken homes and difficult situations. And as a new friend reminded me this week the arts are just the how, the means to an end in ministry. The goal of ministry is relationship. The goal of ministry is connecting to other people. Ministry is not programming. It is not a well executed sermon, worship service or a slick bulletin. Those are just the how. What happens among the people involved between the conception of a message and the service is the real ministry.

Ministry happens when people are plugged into the church in their area of giftedness.
So if I talk about art ministry I can communicate the how of ministry to you. I confess that visual art is what comes to my mind when I talk about art ministry. The arts are really much broader than the visual arts. Even in my narrow focus I can admit that the arts are music, drama, poetry, writing, media, dance and graphics. The arts communicate. Communication connects, invites and expands the message. Our message is the message of relationship first between God and man, then man to man.

My plan was simple. Meet with the kids who had an interest in art and give them the opportunity to create. Have the supplies they needed and just be there giving a helping hand and a few suggestions. I was able to begin to steer them and help them begin to express their faith through art. We had a few shows. We made some mission goals and planned projects. But what really happened was an instant connection, artist to artist. What was shared was their struggles in life, their hopes, their fears, their vision. So much more happened on the personal level than I expected that when my new friend Chris shared his vision of art ministry from a musician’s viewpoint I knew what he was saying was true. It wasn’t just about the music on Sunday morning it was about the team and the way they communicated with each other and the congregation. Chris’ challenge when he had accepted his position on staff at my new church was to grow an across the board arts ministry involving as many disciplines as he could find leadership for and get us involved with the inner workings of the church. His vision looks suspiciously like Paul’s description of the body of Christ in the book of Ephesians.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22

The principles of the how of ministry, of course goes beyond the arts. We can engage and connect through sports ministry, helps ministry, disaster relief… the possibilities are as vast as the gifts and talents in your local church.

Ministry Monday: The Where in Ministry

There is a cross stitch in my dining room I created that reads Bloom where you are planted. It is framed with dogwood blossoms and was created when I live in North Carolina. Where I lived if you looked out my back family room windows in the spring you would be treated to a woods filled with dogwood blossoms among the oaks trees that towered above them. At the time I had a son in kindergarten and one not ready for preschool. I was a stay home mom and my kids and my home were my ministry. The wisdom of the little saying I had seen cross stitched and hung on my older sister’s family room wall helped remind me to be content where I was. There is something inside me since I became a believer that just makes me want to serve. I had been active in the youth ministry at my church in Florida and wanted that again. It just wasn’t the right time. I was in a new church and still getting to know people. They were still getting to know me. I felt like my ministry was hampered when what I really was needed was a broader view of ministry.

Ministry happens and is meant to happen first where we are. If giving glory to God is giving others a correct estimation of the character of God, then how we serve at home, how we care for our family matters. It is the requirement for deacons and elders to have their household in order. If they have not mastered this first, then they are not qualified to serve in the church in leadership. We cannot ignore our family and say we serve others. It is wrong.

Clearly in the Bible Jesus speaks about going into the world and preaching the gospel and making disciples of the nations. In the book of Acts it is given more clarity, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

That is easy to translate that into, “you will be my witnesses first in your city, state, region, and nation and to the rest of the world.” We are to be involved some way in this strategy of outreach. We cannot do it all ourselves. Not everyone is called to foreign missions. The best way to cover the where of ministry is to be involved in a local church where ministry goes on at all these levels. Then when as you live out your faith, and as you are able to participate, you will have the opportunity to serve in your city, state region, nation and world. I think short term mission trips are the best means to serve in these various spheres of influence. I think your ministry should start locally. Why travel to Africa to do VBS, if you won’t help at VBS in your church, or in your city. I think if you want to go on a foreign mission trip that your training should begin at home. Why go to Seattle to help plant a church when you won’t invite your neighbor to church. We need to broaden our view of ministry on the local level. We need to broaden our view of missions and ministry on the personal level too. Are we looking for opportunities around us to serve? Do we say to the people we know, the people whom we encounter during the day, “how can I help you?” and really mean it.