Excellence in ministry is difficult to nail down because it is such a subjective and particularized way of describing one’s gifts for ministry. One could be just the right minister for inner-city women who have been harmed by the church but could be horrible in administration; or, someone could do a great job growing a budget and building a dynamic context for ministry, but few in the end could feel that they are really “made disciples” in the Matthean sense. Excellence in ministry, then, might best be characterized not on the basis of an impossible universal metric, but instead on the basis of each person’s best potential to embody the gospel and lead others to embody it as well. If we take just a few principles of the Christian tradition seriously—the priesthood of all believers, for instance, the idea of the body of Christ, and the universal work of the Holy Spirit—it would seem that “excellence” would then be more appropriately marked as that ministry that knows its own strengths and limitations, and is empowered and encouraged by God’s work in the world. Excellent ministry embodies the hope for a bit of the divine in the everyday, embodies the truth of the spirit’s presence in all lives.
I say “all lives” because ministry cannot happen in a vacuum; the old “two or three” is something of a necessity. However, it’s easy to get distracted by numbers and statistics. Our Western context stresses visible results, to a fault. How many young people at Synod assembly? How many minorities represented at Churchwide? How much money spent on mission? How much communion consumed? These results have a place, but it’s not at the center. One should take a closer look at their work if the church is empty or if you’re engagement outside the building is non-existent; but then, I wouldn’t expect that ministry with, say, Hell’s Angels or another unconventional demographic would yield the same spectrum of “results” that typical parish ministry would. Evaluating excellence—especially in ministry—is one of those things that requires a broad look at all the pieces at work.
In our conversations so far, I’ve gathered a sense of what this embodiment looks like on the front lines, and what strategies strengthen that embodiment. One is the absolute privilege of human relationship. In our readings that have tried to systematize this, I’ve found myself less excited by statistical evaluations for several reasons. Mark Twain’s sense of “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” is one; the other is an appreciation for the untrackability of human relationship, especially in actions that are less conventionally noteworthy. One of the most powerful lessons I will take with me from this context and experience is the hard work and dedication it takes to care for people. It is easy to “care about” them in a general sense; to care for them, one must know a name and a story. One must have a snapshot of a life and the willingness to help foster the opportunity for more snapshots. I could make a list of all the times I’ve called or emailed a friend from the congregation, but that statistic would tell you nothing about how we are the body of Christ. I could give you a count of handshakes on Sunday morning, but neither would that. Engagement with a Christian community is important, yes, but a name on the roster is not what we seek. If we are embodying the gospel and are being the work of the Spirit, affecting lives and strengthening faith, this is a bit of that “excellence.” If we are living inside the stories of God in scripture, in tradition, in the broader world in the lives of people, we are embodying ministry and engaging in that excellent practice of “making disciples.”
As I continue serving as a member of St. Paul’s body (and when I leave in less than two years!), the importance of being grounded in relationship and real lives remains my barometer of excellence. It does not happen within an office, though it can be strengthened by that. It does not happen when reading statistical reports of the congregation, though it can be strengthened by that as well. An article or a sermon does nothing to build up the body if no one is on the receiving end. It is engaging with people, their stories, their lives, and that bit of spirit in each of them that really defines excellent ministry. It’s something that doesn’t care about titles and accolades but simply aspires to meets the hopes of a God who sends servants to the ends of the earth.
Tags: religion
