Book Review: Each One A Minister

Information about the book

Each One a Minister: Using God's Gifts for Ministry by William J. Carter.  The book is published by Discipleship Resources.  2002. 

Summary

The book is an exploration of the gifts from God for ministry.  The author begins with a section dedicated to the study of the book of Ephesians.  Part two explores the idea of gifts for ministry - discovering them and deploying them.  Part three is a very practical guide to ministry, and it explores a dozen "types" of ministry and ideas of how to explore them if they are where you are called.

The book is used as the curriculum for the United Methodist Advanced Lay course entitled "Discover Your Spiritual Gifts"

Impressions

The author's goal or theme is not to provide a "test" the reader can take to discover spiritual gifts, but instead to help the read explore the idea of how the gifts can be used for ministry.  The approach is a different one than I expected, but that doesn't change that it is a well constructed approach to something all lay people need to explore as they grow in discipleship.  He makes an important link between the gifts we have received from God and the imperative to use them in ministry.  This is scene in how he refers to spiritual gifts: gifts for ministry.

A few quotes that I especially liked:

• Charistmata are gifts of grace by which people are prepared to do ministry  Those who have been saved by grace are prepared by grace to serve God.  It is all connected.
• We are not only expected to do good deeds but were actually created to accomplish them.
• The absence of good works may be a sign that our faith is not yet fulfilled
• ...gifts are unlimited.  No one has named them all, and perhaps no one should.  Each of us may have the potential for a unique gift simply because each is unique.
• ...that it is the very variety of gifts that makes the body powerful.  Unity does not mean conformity; it means solidarity within diversity.  We all do different things within a single mission.  Oneness is of the overall purpose, not the details.
• To discover the mission of any church, we must discover the gifts of its members.  ministry must be based on the gifts, rather than the gifts forced to fit the ministry defined by a council or denomination.

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