by Debbie Kamm
So how do I define ministry? What precisely is it that with God’s grace I’m about? To be in ministry means I am one who acts on authority from another – or in this case, others. Any authority I possess comes first from God and then from the congregation I serve. It is the concept of serving which is at the very heart of the word minister, which means servant. To be in ministry means a lifetime of engaging with God’s Word: of wrestling with that Word and studying that Word and interpreting that Word, but most of all, trying to live that Word. To be in ministry means to be acutely conscious of the privilege of being present at some of the most intimate moments in the lives of others: of hearing a couple tenderly exchange wedding vows as they stand on the brink of all their tomorrows; of looking into the face of a wee babe as I dedicate her or him and the parents to God, praying the world will be kind to this little one, and that they might come to know the joy of salvation; of romping with kids; of listening to stories that rip out my heart and heal it all at the same time; of holding the hand of a friend as they face difficulty or whooping with them as they celebrate; of keeping holy vigil at the bedside of a saint at the sacred moment of translation from this life to Life Eternal. To be in ministry is a life of reading and studying and writing and praying and pacing late on Saturday nights and almost every night in between; of worshiping and laughing and crying and singing and eating together; of presiding at Table or at a baptism; it is listening very carefully and prayerfully to the words behind the words and paying close attention to what is left unspoken. To be in ministry is to be constantly open to the presence of God in the mundane and the mysterious and to be keenly aware of all the astonishing ways God shows up in unexpected places and at unexpected times. To be in ministry is to never take for granted the privileges and responsibilities it brings; it is to never breach a confidence; it is to set aside fear and fatigue and frustration in order to speak the healing word, the comforting word, the challenging word; it is learning to say goodbye with grace and to say hello with hope. To be in ministry is to be willing to be wrong and vulnerable and insatiably curious; it is to question and doubt and believe and trust. To be in ministry is to do what I love.
But most of all, ministry is being able to say with Saint Paul, “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.” Notice the plural: we are engaged in this ministry – that means all of us. And because we are not in this alone, we cannot lose heart, for not only do we have one another, we also have the strong and sure promise of God that He will be our God and we will be His people. We have the strong and sure promise of Jesus that He will never abandon or forsake us. And we have the strong and sure promise of the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort and instruct us. Ministry is always plural – it can never exist in isolation, but only within the context of the fellowship of Believers gathered in the name of Christ.
The Rev. Debbie Kamm is a second generation American Baptist minister who has pastored churches in New York State and Vermont. She resides in Clifton Springs, New York, where she is engaged in the ministry of caring for her father full-time. She currently serves as Pastor of Reed Corners Federated Church in Canandaigua, NY, is Secretary for the New York State Ministers Council, and is Editor of Minister.