I stand corrected. I had
thought the workshop was on “ministry to millennials.” Wow, was I sure
wrong! Our ministries, when at their best, are seldom merely ministry “to” but
rather ministry “with.” As all politics are local (in the wisdom made famous by
Speaker Tip O’Neil), so all ministry is relational, which means ministry “with”
others.
Zach Yentzer, our Ignite
the Spark! speaker at de Cristo’s event last week and at Grand Canyon’s event
next week,* reminded me of this truth. Here are a few, choice gems from Zach’s
presentation:
We don’t want to have the
baton passed to us. We want to walk forward together and share the baton.
We prefer to explore a
topic together rather than have you give us the answers.
In an era of
ever-increasing technology, the importance of place becomes more vital, which
is why I am in favor of local churches. The local church, as a place, gives
context to the ever-increasing stream of data and speed of information.
The key word above is
“together.” We can do this!
Zach’s Ignite the Spark!
presentation mined Paul’s pastoral epistles for clues on how ministry together
with Millennials might move forward. As Paul, the elder mentor, wrote to
Timothy and Titus, the youngers, we see a model for leveraging one of our
greatest spiritual giftings – we have an abundance of silver-haired wisdom in
our congregations! – toward connecting with our communities.
A look at Titus 3:14
shows a flavor of what Zach discussed with us: “And let our people learn to
devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be
unfruitful.” The interesting Greek word in this verse is ergon, which is translated as “good works.” However, ergon doesn’t mean “good works” as in
“works righteousness,” the act of seeking God’s approval through our goodness.
Rather ergon is about the building of
business, employment, and production of art and industry by one’s own hands.
One might think of CafĂ© Justo in Agua Prieta as an example of ergon ministry – doing work that blesses
the community.
Our churches can become
places to work together to pull each other
up, to help each other launch for
work and launch for care. Can you imagine encouraging a younger adult toward
their vocational goal – and to do this as an act of the sacred? Can you imagine
sharing mutual wisdom with a younger adult – them teaching you and you
enlightening them – toward the goal of deeper discernment of our world today
and God’s call upon the Church? Can you imagine not just handing a younger
adult the baton of committee work but walking side-by-side to discern God’s
vision of where we need to take the baton next – together?
If you answered yes to
any of the above questions, you might be a Reformed Christian, ready to be
always reforming according to the Word of God. Stay tuned for more next week
when I will give a few practical tidbits on what ministry with
millennials can look like.
You can register for Grand Canyon's session with Zach coming up November 3 at Desert Palms PC.
Click here.
Click here.
Ready to share a baton,
Brad Munroe
Brad Munroe