The Work of Ministry Belongs to All of Us
Dear Hope Church Family,
The life of vocational ministry is pocked with all sorts of occupational hazards. Reams of them – incessant, tempting, and dangerous. One of the more subtle traps we face at Hope is the temptation to think that ministry belongs to pastors, staff, and ordained officers. When the work of the church begins and ends with the “people in charge,” we depart from the Biblical ideal for the church and miss God’s design for every believer to share in the work and stewardship of God’s Kingdom.
The “priesthood of all believers” (1 Peter 2:5,9) and the call for the pastors and teachers and officers of the church to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4: 11-12) stand in stark contrast. Together, they offer a more robust picture of life together as Christ’s church. They stoke our imagination about every member ministry: every member getting in on what God is doing through the church and every member playing a load-bearing part in that glorious work.
Our Pastors, Elders, and Deacons have vowed to lead Hope into ministry. Threaded through those vows is the call not to replace the congregation but rather to equip and lead the congregation in shared ministry. We realize how limited our resources are. We own how desperately we need the broadened discernment and hard-won wisdom of Hope church members to care for, equip, and lead our congregation into the good works God has prepared for us to do by his grace. We know that we need a lot of help to minister the grace of the Gospel to our people.
In line with this conviction and in hopes of creating spaces for others to use their gifts, Deanne Trollinger (our Director of Women’s Ministry), Ethan, the Session, and I have been working to form two essential teams to deepen and extend the ministry of Hope Church. We have formed the Women’s Care Team and the Women’s Shepherding Team to support the ordained officers in our ministry to the women of our church and beyond. Specifically, the aim is to make our ministry to women in crisis and in need of shepherding more intentional, focused, and fully equipped. The Care Team and Shepherding Team do not replace the official roles of Elders and Deacons; rather, the women serving in these ways bolster and enrich the ministry.
Since the Women’s Care Team and Women’s Shepherding Team have been faithfully operating somewhat in the background, my intention in writing is to help move their good work into the foreground for a moment. We want to identify who they are, to honor their service, and to explain their work so that we can celebrate and benefit from it.
The Women’s Care Team is led by Tori Petty, Sami Bills, Amanda Budd, Lila Capellari, Melissa Faulkner, Beth McDaniel, Janet Page, Jessica Shore, Deanne Trollinger, and Flo Wolfe. Their mission is: “In partnership with the Deacons, the Women’s Care Team is a group of women here at Hope who are ready to walk alongside and provide support as you go through a difficult season.”
The Women’s Shepherding Team is Deanne Trollinger, Shannon Burgess, Sarah Beam, Valerie Godwin, Sandra McGee, Margaret Ann Speakman, Flo Wolfe, and Emi Holman. Similarly, their mission statement is: “The Women’s Shepherding Team exists to come alongside our Session in pastoral care for women at Hope, providing not only a woman’s perspective and presence but also applying the Word to women in need of instruction, correction, comfort, or encouragement. The members are appointed by the Session to assist the elders in praying for, shepherding, and caring for the needs of women at Hope.”
Please join me in being thankful for these women and their willingness to serve us. And please join me in praying for our collective growth as the “priesthood of all believers” at Hope so that we can reap the harvest of good Kingdom work together and savor its bounty.
Grace and peace,
David