I sat down to interview a long-time minister in my tradition for a college assignment when I was barely 20 years old. My main question was, "How have you been sustained in ministry for this long?" followed by "How do you plan to continue in ministry for your future?" The answer to both questions had a common denominator: Community.
I'm not sure about other professions, but ministry can be a lonely place. The people who understand you the best are either your co-workers, family, or other ministers. While I worked in Texas I had the privilege to be around many other ministers that I went to college with or our ministries partnered together at some point. I moved to Arkansas 5 years ago and am still trying to create those kinds of partnerships and community. Many times you can feel like you are on an island...deserted...all alone. You hit a tough season in ministry and there is nowhere else to turn. There is no-one else to share your experiences. You tend to do your best to push through the season with all of its darkness to get to the other side. It can be a lonely place.
When people go to an island for vacation it is a refreshing, magical time. When someone crashes and wakes up on an island it is a time where you feel overwhelmed and LOST (pun intended). When you are on a deserted island, all you want is rescue.
In the meantime you search for your basic needs: shelter, fire, food, water, and company. In the ministry scenario you are searching for direction, support, and refreshment. Visiting an island for solitude and time with God can be refreshing and magical. Stranded on an island can be disorienting and trying.
Allowing your minister a time to visit an island will keep them from being stranded on one. The call of a minister is to take care of the sheep and proclaim the word of God. The responsibility of the church is to nurture their minister, support him/her, and proclaim the word of God. Churches don't hire ministers to take care of them. Churches hire ministers to partner with them and then they pay those ministers a fair salary so that they can focus prominently on leading that church to throne of God and to His communities.
But ministers, we have a responsibility too! We must decide to lay down any "Savior Complex" and do ministry surrounded by community and support from other ministers. Ministering from an island helps no one and soon it will just be you. Minister from the community and visit the islands.
I'm not sure about other professions, but ministry can be a lonely place. The people who understand you the best are either your co-workers, family, or other ministers. While I worked in Texas I had the privilege to be around many other ministers that I went to college with or our ministries partnered together at some point. I moved to Arkansas 5 years ago and am still trying to create those kinds of partnerships and community. Many times you can feel like you are on an island...deserted...all alone. You hit a tough season in ministry and there is nowhere else to turn. There is no-one else to share your experiences. You tend to do your best to push through the season with all of its darkness to get to the other side. It can be a lonely place.
When people go to an island for vacation it is a refreshing, magical time. When someone crashes and wakes up on an island it is a time where you feel overwhelmed and LOST (pun intended). When you are on a deserted island, all you want is rescue.
In the meantime you search for your basic needs: shelter, fire, food, water, and company. In the ministry scenario you are searching for direction, support, and refreshment. Visiting an island for solitude and time with God can be refreshing and magical. Stranded on an island can be disorienting and trying.
Allowing your minister a time to visit an island will keep them from being stranded on one. The call of a minister is to take care of the sheep and proclaim the word of God. The responsibility of the church is to nurture their minister, support him/her, and proclaim the word of God. Churches don't hire ministers to take care of them. Churches hire ministers to partner with them and then they pay those ministers a fair salary so that they can focus prominently on leading that church to throne of God and to His communities.
But ministers, we have a responsibility too! We must decide to lay down any "Savior Complex" and do ministry surrounded by community and support from other ministers. Ministering from an island helps no one and soon it will just be you. Minister from the community and visit the islands.
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