Ministry
Nicky Gumbel, former pastor of Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London, tells the story of being at a conference about marriage when he and his wife were newlyweds. They were given five cards with the words ‘work’, ‘God’, ‘ministry’, ‘husband/wife’ and ‘children’ on them. They were then asked to rank these in order of priority. “With hindsight,” he says, “I can see I got them in completely the wrong order.” Nicky had put ‘ministry’ above ‘wife’ and ‘children’. On reflection, “It became clear to me that my order should be: first of all God, then my wife (my primary calling), our children, my job (my primary ministry), and finally my ministry”.
Ministry is costly. This month, Claire Sellar writes about the work of PCI’s Pastoral Care of Ministers and their Families panel. Manse families can experience intense stress as they cope with major upheaval connected to moving location, or dealing with other pressured situations. She comments: “manse families… flourish when thought about and cared for even in small ways.”
There is also a sacrificial cost to serving as an elder, which many people do on top of a full-time job. David Thompson says, “Eldership is a high calling… It sets a high bar and asks a lot of those who occupy the role.” PCI recognises the need for those in eldership to be “refreshed and renewed in their calling”, so David highlights the new training being offered to elders this autumn.
With no sign of the war in Ukraine ending, we hear about the enormous sacrifice of ministering there. Alister Torrens, principal of the Evangelical Reformed Seminary of Ukraine, was evacuated when the war started, but has returned several times and reflects on what he has seen. Uel Marrs also reports on his recent trip there, which was a show of support to the Reformed Church in Hungary, along with 17 other partner Churches.
As our congregations celebrate harvest this month, Robert Irwin offers a reflection on this significant season. He comments that even though farming practices have changed dramatically over the years, yet “the dependence on God’s provision of the sunshine and the rain in suitable proportions remains the same”.
Whatever form our ministry takes – whether we are minister, elders, deaconesses, volunteers, mission workers or Christian disciples witnessing in a secular environment – we, like the farmer, depend on God for his provision for the ministry to have any success. As Robert says, we need to lean on the promises of Lamentations 3:22–23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
The Presbyterian Herald is the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It provides a forum for debate and discussion on a wide range of topics and aims to challenge and encourage Presbyterians, as well as inform them about what the wider Church is involved in. It has a readership in excess of 25,000 and is distributed throughout Ireland.
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