When You Work for the Church

When I accepted a call to serve as an interim pastor, my vision for ministry—to the extent that I had any vision at all—was simply to fill in where and as needed. After all, the search committee was already in conversation with a serious pastoral candidate. My role was simply to fill in for a number of months until the new pastor would arrive.

But when those plans fell through, the congregation extended their call to me. The church had a congregational vision, and together we developed a job description for my new and on-going role. But no one asked about my personal vision for ministry. None of the pastors I knew talked about their personal vision for ministry—or even if they had one. In hindsight, I’d say that my vision at the time was simply to serve the church.

That was a good place to start, but I soon came to realize that wasn’t enough. There were simply too many opportunities to serve in too many different ways, too many demands on my time pulling in too many different directions. Without a clear vision of who I was in the midst of the church and denomination, and without a clear vision of who God was calling me to be, I was soon overwhelmed. Ministry Wire columnist Brad Daugherty calls leading from personal vision “the missing piece in pastoral leadership.” When I started in ministry, that was certainly missing for me.

Growing in Ministry and Vision

Perhaps I simply hadn’t been paying attention earlier, but it wasn’t until I took an Alban Institute course on “New Visions for the Long Pastorate” that I understood the value of a personal vision for ministry. By that time, I had served as a pastor for six years with on-and-off bouts of feeling overwhelmed. I was preparing for my first sabbatical, and planned to continue with the congregation on my return.

As part of what I hoped would be a long pastorate (which the Alban Institute defined as seven or more years), I thought that developing a personal vision for ministry might help bring focus and a renewed sense of purpose, clarify priorities and a way forward. I can’t say that it brought instant relief to the challenges I faced, or that it was always front and centre in my years of ministry, but developing a personal vision has been helpful to me along the way.

It was an honour for me to lead a recent Mennonite Church Canada session as part of Transitioning into Ministry for new and beginning pastors and chaplains. I had met with the group last year for a session on effective leadership and spiritual practice, and now for their last session, our focus was on developing a personal vision for ministry.

Once again, I was encouraged and impressed by these new leaders. Some already had a well-developed and long-standing sense of inner call from their childhood or youth. Others shared specific scripture passages, metaphors for ministry, and examples from mentors. I so appreciated their thoughtful reflections and good questions, their willingness to learn from one another and to receive what I had to offer.

Identifying a Clear and Uniquely Personal Vision

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus expressed his personal ministry vision this way:

The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.
—Luke 19:10

Throughout the gospel, Jesus’ broad ministry included healing the sick, proclaiming forgiveness from sin, feeding the crowds, calling and instructing his followers, disputing with religious leaders, dying on the cross, and rising again—but these were not random, unconnected good works. They all flowed from his personal ministry vision to seek and save the lost.

A more detailed version of his ministry was drawn from the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
—Luke 4:18–19

Moses’ personal ministry vision was revealed to him by God at the burning bush: to bring his people out of their suffering (Exodus 3:1–12). Ezra’s vision was less dramatic, but just as clear and uniquely personal:

Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.
—Ezra 7:10

Today, a pastor of care might cast a vision for ministry this way:

My heart is to teach and empower those around me with the wisdom of God, so they can develop skills to bless those they encounter.

Or:

It’s my joy to show compassion to others and to be a true friend by caring deeply for others.

An outreach worker might write:

I have a vision to care for my community, both assisting those in need and learning from them.

Or, from a youth leader:

I will seek to build meaningful relationships with youth, implement and oversee models of youth ministry that will reach and nurture youth in Christ and help them to have an impact on their community through the local church.

Each expression is clear and uniquely personal, in light of each person’s particular gifts, calling, and context.

A Vision That Continues to Develop

While Moses’ vision for ministry started at the burning bush, it continued to develop over time as the people’s needs changed in the wilderness, and as Moses accepted wise counsel and learned to work with a team (Exodus 18:13-27). For us, too, developing a personal ministry vision takes place over time, with prayer and deep reflection, testing and consulting with others.

What’s more, once we have a clear and uniquely personal vision, it’s not one and done. A personal vision for ministry changes over time as we change and grow. In my pivot from pastoral ministry to focus on writing, editing, and teaching, my personal vision of ministry has changed and is still in process.

In just one session on developing a personal ministry vision, our Transitioning into Ministry group could hardly do more than skim the surface. We couldn’t fully develop a personal ministry vision in one session. We could hardly touch on how a personal ministry vision is part of a larger life vision.

Instead, I focused on sharing some steps and examples toward developing a personal vision for ministry. Here’s my short list from my own experience, from “New Visions for the Long Pastorate,” and gleaned from various other sources:

• Pray
• Turn to Scripture
• Reflect on past and present experiences
• Look positively toward the future
• Identify key themes, questions, ideas
• Consult with others
• Express your vision in a sentence or two
• Test it in prayer, with Scripture, in your own heart, and with others
• Live into your vision
• Re-visit and refine it.

A Prayer for the Road Ahead

And now may God bless and keep you.
For those energized in ministry, may the Spirit continue to guide and grow you.
May God ordain your steps forward as you walk with Jesus at your side.
For those who feel overwhelmed, may you accept Jesus’ invitation to set your burdens down and rest. May the indwelling Spirit refresh and renew you.
For each of us, may God grant fresh vision and fresh energy for the road ahead.
Amen.