unit one: your ministry

Facilitator Resource – Unit 1 of 7

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Facilitator Resource - Unit 1 of 7

UNIT ONE: YOUR MINISTRY

The Ministry In the United Church of Christ, it is common practice to delegate to the Association certain responsibilities pertaining to oversight of ministry. These responsibilities include recognizing, authorizing and maintaining ordained, licensed and commissioned ministry to the Committee on the Ministry within each Association. Specifically, this means that Committees on the Ministry grant and maintain student in care status, ordained ministerial standing, ordained ministerial partner standing, privilege of call, and dual ordained ministerial standing. In addition, the committee maintains a relationship of both nurture and accountability with all authorized ministers holding or seeking standing within the Association. The above mentioned functions summarize information contained in the Bylaws of the United Church of Christ. However, placing a focus solely on function would mean that an essential part is excluded from the work of the Committee on the Ministry. These responsibilities are more than mere functions or tasks to be performed. They are a vital form of ministry within the Body of Christ. In fact, there is a distinct “ministry” of the Committee on the Ministry.

Take a moment and think about your tasks. 1. How would you define the “ministry” of the Committee on the

Ministry? 2. What makes the functions you perform “ministry?”

We could go a step further and say, if the work of a Committee on the Ministry is ministry, then it also has a vocational dimension. For too long, we have assumed that the word vocation was reserved for some Great Work to which God calls and equips us whether we are authorized ministers or lay persons. Throughout our lives there are those tasks which we do on behalf of God and God’s church, to which we feel called. How do we know when we are truly called to perform a task? There is a fit between our gifts and graces, and the work which must be done.


Hans-Reudi Weber expresses it in this manner:

Christian work is mostly not done in addition to our ordinary work, but it is ordinary work done with grace.

Thus, the tasks of a Committee on the Ministry may seem very mundane – examining candidates, talking with pastors about their ministry, etc. The tasks may seem difficult and painful – conducting fitness reviews or trying to intervene through a situational support consultation. Yet, if we do this work prayerfully, then we may come to recognize it as a “calling.” Think for a few moments about that word, “calling.” In Malcolm Warford’s monograph Our Several Callings he says, [a calling] is not a career choice; it is the recognition of the purposes of God in our lives … it is a gift not an entitlement. How is the committee’s work a “gift?”

What responsibility do you feel to this “calling?”

When you were asked to serve on this Committee on Ministry, can you recall your first impressions of how you envisioned your tasks? What were the circumstances in which you were “invited” or felt called to this committee’s ministry?

“The gifts God gave were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:11-12 is surely at the heart and soul of all of our work within the church. Regardless of the particular nature of our gifts, we are to use them to build up the body and to equip one another for the work of ministry. The Committee on the Ministry will utilize these gifts and sense of call to accomplish tasks essential to the overall ministry of the church.

Ephesians 4:11-12


Take a moment to think about each member of the committee:

1. What gifts and skills are necessary to perform this ministry suitably?

2. What gifts does each person bring?

3. What gifts do you bring?

4. How do you deal with those differences to maintain a creative tension instead of destructive tension?

Read through the list of seven characteristics and skills for Committee on the Ministry members.

1. Members of the committee need to be members of one of the churches which comprise the Association.

2. Committee members should have significant knowledge of the

role and responsibilities of clergy as well as other elected or authorized positions in church life in several of its settings. They should understand the ethics of the ministerial role.

3. Committee members will have knowledge of Association churches

and their needs, and will have been active participants in the wider church.

4. Members must understand and wholeheartedly support the polity

of the United Church of Christ, as they serve in highly responsible positions on behalf of the entire church.

5. Members of the committee should be persons of strong, mature

faith, able to form and nurture covenantal relationships.

6. Members of the committee will need the ability to be direct with one another, face difficult decisions, and make important decisions as a group.

7. Members of the committee are persons who understand and

practice spiritual discernment.

How many of these have you named? Are there surprises on this list? Are there needed skills which are not currently reflected on your committee? If so, how will you compensate for those?


Authority and Your Work

Accepting the work of the Committee on the Ministry as genuine “ministry” requires discerning issues of power and authority associated with this ministry. John Thomas, General Minister and President of our denomination, remarked to a recent gathering of those who teach United Church of Christ history and polity that, as a denomination, we are very ambiguous in our attitudes toward authority. On the one hand, we tend to be suspicious of authority and have gone to great lengths in our evolving polity to avoid concentrating authority in any one person or office. On the other hand, we also expect authority to be used wisely in order to further the mission of our denomination.

Think for a moment about your own feelings concerning authority.

1. What immediately comes to mind when you contemplate this

word?

2. Share a time when you experienced authority in a negative way.

3. Share a time when you experienced authority in a positive way.

4. What do these experiences tell you about authority?

Let’s explore the authority of the Committee on the Ministry as defined within the Manual on Ministry as an interpretation of the United Church of Christ Constitution and Bylaws. If you look at the introductory material contained in Manual on Ministry, Section 8, you will find the word “oversight” applied. The Committee on the Ministry is given authority by the Association or Conference acting as an Association to exercise a ministry of oversight for authorized ministers. Using the slide presentation included with the Toolkit, take a look at what is meant by “oversight.” First, we see that the word oversight is derived from the biblical word episcopé. Examining the word and its root origins, epi and scopé, we can see it means super – vision or over – sight. It means having a wider or more complete view.

MOM, Section 8


In the next slides we find incidents within the Bible where the word episcopé is used. Take a few moments to look up these references. Can you see the emphasis on the twin actions of nurture and accountability? Are you surprised to learn that in the United Church of Christ the Committee on the Ministry has a “bishop” or “Episcopal” function?

Take a few moments as a committee to reflect on your work.

1. What responsibilities would you name as “nurture?”

2. What responsibilities would you name as “accountability?”

3. Is there always a clear distinction between the two?

There are two oversight tasks which are identified as nurture and two which are identified as accountability:

Nurture tasks include Periodic Support Consultations

and Situational Support Consultations. Reflect on the word “support” in both of these tasks.

Two other tasks, Periodic Review and Fitness Review

are labeled accountability. Share your experience with these four oversight tasks.

Finally, it is important to remember that the whole Church relies on you to perform your oversight role with diligence and prayerful discernment. It is not unusual for committee members to have a sense of “who am I to make these kinds of decisions?” We may find ourselves feeling very uncomfortable making decisions about who does or does not become authorized for ministry in the UCC; and deciding whether or not to remove or suspend someone’s standing due to unethical behavior. It may be helpful to remember that you are not judging whether or not a person has received a call from God. In baptism, we believe all Christians receive a call from God. The responsibility for testing the shape of that calling and testing the person rests with the committee. The committee ensures that she or he has the gifts, graces, ability, maturity, training, education, temperament and general fitness to be and to remain authorized for ministry, in and on behalf of the United Church of Christ.

MOM, Section 8


Take a moment to share a time when the committee had to say “no.” What was that like? Have there been times when perhaps the committee should have said “no” but instead said “yes?” Why was that decision made? What have been the results? Share with one another your thoughts and feelings about the authority you exercise as a committee. “And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said: By what authority are you doing these things. Who gave you this authority?” It is very important to consider authority from the point of view of our faith. The authority exercised by Committees on the Ministry is a sacred trust given by the church in order to nurture and hold accountable those authorized for ministry in the United Church of Christ. Remember both God and the Church are our partners in this ministry.

Questions:

1. What role does God play in the exercise of authority?

2. How is that authority recognized – or not recognized – in this passage from Matthew?

3. In what ways is the work and ministry of your committee a “sacred trust?”

Matthew 21:23

unit one: your ministry

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