Friday, January 16, 2009

Ministry and Obligation

Ministry :The act of ministering; ministration; service. "With tender ministry."

Ministration : relief: assistance in time of difficulty; "the contributions provided some relief for the victims"

When a person sees a situation that is in need of some improvement, and feels she or he might be the person most able to help, maybe he or she should feel an obligation. I'd say this applies to ministry in Meeting for Worship, other sorts of ministry, and things that are usually not thought of as ministry.

From an old Quaker book about how to live as a Quaker*: (language changed slightly to make it clearer)

"Each local Meeting should appoint a group of its members to serve as a 'Meeting on Worship and Ministry' whose function is to give continuing thought to the religious life of the meeting and its individual members and attenders.... They should encourage others to be ready when the call comes to speak or pray during worship, as a minister.

"... There is a responsibility to give sympathetic encouragement to those who show promising gifts, and to give loving guidance to those whose ministry is not helpful. There's also a responsibility to open the way for those who are timid and young in the ministry.

"... From its earliest days, the community of Quakers has emphasized the importance to the human Community of a living ministry, freely given in the service of God and man..."

"... it is urged that all Friends, whether recorded ministers or not, continually feel their responsibility for the meeting for worship."

*"Faith and Practice," Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1955 edition

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