Ministry in a local church is challenging, fun, fabulous, frightening, full of surprises, frustrating, and fulfilling. How is it all those things? I don't know... but if you've been in ministry, you're shaking your head knowingly, aren't you? One of the characteristics of ministering in a local church is that all the blessings and all the challenges tend to focus your attention more and more on that church... her needs, strengths, weaknesses, and dreams. In at least one sense that's exactly the way it should be... ministering to, praying for, working with a church family. An inevitable side effect is that it's easy to forget that you're not unique... that there are guys in similar roles out there who are experiencing the same blessings, struggling with the same challenges, and dreaming the same dreams for other church families.
Today I spent most of the afternoon with Greg Brown, the Associate Minister at Tri-Valley. We're collaborating on forming a joint praise team and crafting a worship time for the Pepperdine Lectures in May. Coincidentally, Jarrod spent some time with Steve Martin, Tri-Valley Preaching Minister, working on a class they'll co-teach at Pepperdine. Our meetings went well, but the unexpected benefit was that we were all reminded that we are in this together... that our churches, our ministry roles, our experiences with our church families are all more similar than different, that they create community among us, and remind us that it is God who wills and works through us. That reminder is freeing, and it's always nice having companions on the journey.
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