3 Steps in Ministry
The lay presented sermon at church yesterday morning wasn't particularly well executed or written, but I want to play around with its only real point. That point was taken from a professor at my seminary, Suzi Pangrl, and is a definition of how to do ministry:
1) Show up.
2) Listen.
3) Respond in love.
I think that there is a fair amount of truth in these steps; it definitely follows pretty well what they teach in Clinical Pastoral Education programs.
The first step of showing up is integral - you care enough to be there. Even before the real ministry can start, you must be present, and your presence alone can make all the difference.
Listening - actually listening - is also absolutely key. Our society has become one in which we work much harder on trying to figure out what to say than on trying to listen as well as possible. Many approaches to ministry and counseling focus most of all on the listening, working on the assumption that much of what people in our society need is to feel truly heard (maybe this is why so many of us blog?).
Finally, responding in love. This can be the difficult part because it isn't as pat an answer as just showing up or just listening. But, the most important part of this step that I wish to elevate is that truly responding in love means still keeping the focus of your attention on the other person and his or her needs, not your own. It's not about what you think would make you sound smart by saying, but by actually responding to what you have just heard by keeping the focus on the other person, truly demonstrating your caring.
As I thought about this, though, it reminded me of a central difficulty I tend to find in my Unitarian Universalist tradition. We embrace diversity, engage in conversation with those with whom we may disagree or who we know disagree with us, and strive to achieve true acceptance of everyone.
Yet, we base our action in faith upon work in social justice.
These two concepts seem to some extent at odds, and I believe that the challenge we do and will continue to face is the recnociliation between accepting everyone and challenging the social, political, and economic structures and policies that are oppressive and harmful. Can I truly accept persons who feel so strongly about oppressing the rights of homosexuals or illegal immigrants while also working so hard against them?
This shall be our challenge.
1) Show up.
2) Listen.
3) Respond in love.
I think that there is a fair amount of truth in these steps; it definitely follows pretty well what they teach in Clinical Pastoral Education programs.
The first step of showing up is integral - you care enough to be there. Even before the real ministry can start, you must be present, and your presence alone can make all the difference.
Listening - actually listening - is also absolutely key. Our society has become one in which we work much harder on trying to figure out what to say than on trying to listen as well as possible. Many approaches to ministry and counseling focus most of all on the listening, working on the assumption that much of what people in our society need is to feel truly heard (maybe this is why so many of us blog?).
Finally, responding in love. This can be the difficult part because it isn't as pat an answer as just showing up or just listening. But, the most important part of this step that I wish to elevate is that truly responding in love means still keeping the focus of your attention on the other person and his or her needs, not your own. It's not about what you think would make you sound smart by saying, but by actually responding to what you have just heard by keeping the focus on the other person, truly demonstrating your caring.
As I thought about this, though, it reminded me of a central difficulty I tend to find in my Unitarian Universalist tradition. We embrace diversity, engage in conversation with those with whom we may disagree or who we know disagree with us, and strive to achieve true acceptance of everyone.
Yet, we base our action in faith upon work in social justice.
These two concepts seem to some extent at odds, and I believe that the challenge we do and will continue to face is the recnociliation between accepting everyone and challenging the social, political, and economic structures and policies that are oppressive and harmful. Can I truly accept persons who feel so strongly about oppressing the rights of homosexuals or illegal immigrants while also working so hard against them?
This shall be our challenge.
posted by DeaTerrae | 6:00 AM
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