Fete Accompli

You may or may not know, but I have spent the better part of the past three months planning a Faith and Health seminar. Having never done exactly this, it was quite a learning experience- not just about the ins and outs of event planning, I've done all that stuff...it was quite a feat to put together this fete because of the dynamics that I encountered within the ministry community. Wow.



I have seen people claim their ministry turf and stalwartly (and stolidly) stand firm and refuse to allow anyone else the joy of participation and the honor of being able to bless others through the ministry. I've seen basically defunct and lifeless ministries kept alive and operating at their bare minimum just so that no one would really be interested in involvement and, hence no one would be interested in taking over said ministry. Fabulous strategy: keep a lame-duck ministry for yourself because it's function is merely to provide you with power and prestige...not to mention something rather impressive-looking on your resume. No ministering going on- but heck- one can't have everything...



This post probably seems a strange departure from my generally enthusiastic and encouraging writing style, but I feel compelled to make this point. What I have seen has been so ugly and so disheartening that the words, whether they sound jaded or not, must be said. I shared this experience, step for difficult step, with a woman who I now call a dear friend. Her perceptions mirror mine. We soon came to realize though, that the only thing we could change was us. We could not and would not force a person to step up to the plate, to fulfill the calling of their ministry. What we could do was to do our best for the glory of God and for the goal of blessing others. We decided to use our frustration to propel us forward to better personal behavior. I personally vowed to take a panoramic mental picture of the entire scenario and then vowed to myself to never, ever, ever do that to a ministry. If a ministry ever becomes more about me than those who are supposed to be ministered to- you all have my personal permission ahead of time to TAKE ME OUT! :) I'm so serious- humble me in whatever way you have to- do not let me get complacent in ministry or lukewarm. I ask you to keep me accountable, dear friends.



Now, back to the event- it went well- really well. You can read about it here if you're interested: http://calledtocaredelaware.blogspot.com/ But even better that that is our personal story of being overtly blessed by God in a tangible way that fueled our desire to tangibly bless others. More about that later....