What Equipping the Saints Looks Like

The gifts he gave were that some would 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

I've been talking about the fact that our most basic Biblical mandate is to equip the saints for ministry and after preaching about it, teaching about it, training leaders, convincing people, re-writing job descriptions, pleading, and basically telling anyone who will listen ...

a miracle happened yesterday.

The back story: I'm back with the church after 3 months of sabbatical with (supposedly) better boundaries and (most definitely) lots to do including the following that faced me this week:

• 3 weddings this month, all three requiring at least one more pre-marital meeting


• 2 of our most beloved members suffering with recent strokes


• a 12 week long Bible study to plan that starts next week


• several members who need to talk about their concerns post-sabbatical


• a dozen staff members to meet with for re-entry conversations
  
• elders meeting

We're not even talking about sermon preparation, which hasn't been started as of this writing. Pastors do triage. Just like nurses, teachers, and catastrophe management workers.

I would love to visit people who are homebound or just want to talk but there are others who have more pressing needs. When it's between a parishioner who wants to talk about the bulletin layout and a parishioner who wants to talk about divorcing her husband, the divorce wins. Brain tumor versus "what color should we paint the kitchen walls?" Tumor wins.

And so . . .

one of my favorite people has been ill for a long time, but she has excellent home care and - for her spiritual needs - she has an excellent elder and deacon who have faithfully partnered to care for her. I was just thinking about how much I'd love to visit her this week, but it wasn't going to happen.

She died on Tuesday night.

The caregiver knew to phone her elder and deacon. The elder went right over. The deacon made other contacts. By the time I connected with the elder, the hymns and scripture lessons had been selected. The funeral time had been set pending everyone's availability.

It was a thing of beauty.

Now I have many clergy friends who would be taken aback by this. The pastor is supposed to sit with the family and plan the service! The pastor is supposed to come in and take charge.

And many parishioners might find this scenario disturbing. "What are we paying you for?" they might ask.

They are paying me to equip the saints to do ministry. And the spiritual leaders this time were trained officers who ministered perfectly. It was extraordinary.

If I'm the only one doing pastoral care and theological reflection, then our congregation is poorly served because I can't possibly do this intimately with everyone unless we want a congregation of 50 people. But if spiritual relationships are nurtured and formed with others who are trained how to pray with people, how to visit them in the hospital or at home, then our ministry grows exponentially.

Slowly, slowly it's working.

Photo by LL of Ephesus where Paul preached.