Help Congregants Share Faith A unique blessing for us who work in Gospel ministry is that we are “allowed to,” and expected to offer prayer, or to offer a “God bless you,” or to talk about spiritual matters. This is the case in almost any capacity a person has in Gospel ministry, and certainly within my pastoral role. As I’ve been in my role for nearly 14 years at Center of Hope (centerofhopesf.org), a lot of people know me as Pastor Fred, even though I typically just introduce myself as ‘Fred.’ If they ask me where I work or what I do, I am privileged to say, “I’m a pastor.” You might be wondering, “How is that a blessing and a privilege?” Well, if I’m not mistaken, it’s difficult in non-ministry workplaces, or in your neighborhood, or if you are in a job like a farmer where you might not see many people in a week, to have a natural, authentic opportunity to share your faith. Yet, we are challenged by our preachers, and in Christian books we read, or maybe in our Sunday School lessons to get out there and share our faith with those around us. We know we should. We even want to, but it’s probably not as seamless, as natural, as for someone working in a ministry setting. I wonder if it would it be helpful to their people in sharing their personal faith if pastors and outreach committees of churches would create opportunities for their congregants to be known as representatives of the church. That way, in natural, relational conversations within the community, the people you converse with know you are from “that church,” which will probably be good as you are kind, considerate, and interested in them. To be known as a person from the church, as you perhaps wear a logo-themed shirt for the church, or you have a logo-themed welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift to give to new people in the neighborhood or at work, would be helpful. There are a lot of creative ideas out there. If you think I’m off on assuming this is a challenge and a frustration for people working in non-ministry settings, please ‘Share.’ As well, please ‘Share’ what things have worked well for you and your congregation. Or, ‘Share’ some ideas that you have.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 21:45:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015