Call story to Certified Lay Ministry

In general, my call to ministry has not been a single, dramatic event, but instead a lifetime experience of sanctifying grace. I have always, even as a child, believed in God. I was baptized in the Presbyterian Church, attended a Lutheran church for a time, and was then invited by a friend to visit her United Methodist Church, and I’ve been there ever since.  Beginning with UMYF,  I have felt called to ministry, to give of my gifts and time to the work of Christ’s church.

For someone to understand my call to Certified Lay Ministry, I think it is necessary to know about three “thin places” in my life of faith - times when God was especially close and God’s leading was particularly apparent. 

In the fall of 2006, I was a pilgrim on a Walk to Emmaus. I approached the walk like I would a scientific experiment.  I did research. I knew the schedule, I knew about the tables and talks, and I was a little suspicious that the team was trying to manipulate me.  What I found, once I let go of a need to control what was happening, was that God was present with me on the walk.  I learned to trust more and love more. The year that followed was full of grace - everything about my faith life was different. I learned that if I were called to do something, God would be present with me.  Trust more.

In late 2007 and early 2008, I felt I would be leaving my position as a Research Associate. I didn’t know what was next, but something was.  Late that spring, I applied for a position, and was scheduled for an interview.  In the intervening time, I learned that the position of Associate Director at The Foundation was still open. I went to bed one night, certain the position was not for me (way out of my knowledge base), and I got up the next morning (without any sleep), knowing that I needed to apply. When we sing “I heard you calling in the night,” I know what it means.  The first position wasn’t mine, but the one at The Foundation was - it was where God was calling me to be. It felt like stepping out of a boat, onto unknown waters, but God was there, and still is. Trust more.

I was in the right place, but I needed to be equipped. That meant learning more about the work I would do, but it also meant more growth in my call. I was already a certified lay servant (or a certified lay speaker - whichever it was at that point), but God was nagging me to explore Certified Lay Ministry.  I did.  I researched, I checked out the curriculum, and I tried to see how it would work. For me, and I think for others, CLM training feels like it is designed only for those who are seeking to be assigned to a church. That was not my call. I was convinced certified lay ministry was not for me, but God didn’t listen to my protests.  In 2010, at the end of one of our Board of Trustees meetings, I came in late for lunch. The only seat available was next to Herb Lambert, so that is the seat I chose. He was one of the first CLMs in our Conference. He starting talking about his experience, how he helped in ministry in his church, and how the process had worked for him.  It was exactly what I needed to hear in order to be convinced to proceed and to become certified. I believe God had a hand in that conversation.  I was certified as a CLM in 2011. Trust more.

God has called me to work that I love, serving individuals and churches on their journeys to be more generous and to be good stewards of God’s gifts. God has equipped me and provided authority for me through Certified Lay Ministry. I am grateful for the opportunities I have to share the gifts God has given to me; I am grateful for those people who have provided guidance, encouragement, and inclusion. I believe that I am blessed to be a blessing, so I hope that is what I do. Love more.

 

Spiritual Gifts Inventories

I attended a Spiritual Gifts Class a month or so ago.  It was a great class - great teacher - much discussion.

As part of the class, we took a spiritual gifts inventory test.  That's not the first time I've taken an inventory; I completed one as part of my training to be a Certified Lay Minister.  The results of the two test were basically the same, although there were some differences.  I attribute the differences to the fact that the tests were different. Some of the gifts measured by one test were not included in the other one, etc.  Anyway, my results didn't surprise me.

What did surprise me was looking at the test results other people shared with me.  As part of the post-test process, we came together in small groups and discussed our scores and gifts.  The highest score that was possible was 20.  One of the women in my group had 8 gifts for which she scored 20 and 6 for which she scored 19.  That means out of 25 gifts, the test says she is highly gifted in 14 of them.  She considered a "really low" score to be 14.  Another person in my group, who I consider to be gifted, scored low in some areas and is discouraged by that.

It just makes me wonder if one of the influences on a gift assessment survey is your own opinion on your giftedness. One of my motivations were taking a test like that is to remove the bias I have about my gifts, but I wonder now how effective it is in doing that.  I think it goes to show that the spiritual gift assessment is just one tool for determining your gifts, and that it must be coupled with other assessment tools.

Wearing the Mantle

At Annual Conference this year, one of the worship services was a Ministry Night.  The focus was, in case you can't tell from the name on ministry.  Six people were asked to share their experience in "wearing the mantle."  Each of the six people was from a different "type" of ministry -- lay, local minister, associate, provisional, deacon, and elder, and each spoke for about three minutes.  I was asked to speak as a lay person in ministry.  This is what I said:

There is a story told of a mother and her young son.  It was a dark night, and she needed the son to go to the barn to check on something.  The son looked out the door and said, “Mom, I can’t see the barn, even with this flashlight.”  She answered, “It’s OK.  Just keep walking to the end of the light.”

My name is Kim Matthews, and I am a certified lay minister in our Annual Conference.  I, and those who will follow me this evening, have been asked to speak to you about what it means to put on the mantle of ministry.

To me, wearing the mantle often means that I can’t always see where God is leading, but I have learned enough to – most days – walk to the end of the light.

I am a child of God, who on a Walk to Emmaus, heard my call to love more and trust more.  The mantle feels like grace.

I am a biologist, who spent a very sleepless night struggling with God, and who got up the next morning and applied for the position of Associate Director of the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia.  The mantle feels frightening.

I am the Associate Director of the Foundation, and I have the opportunity to meet with churches and individuals to speak to them about ministry.   I’m asked to preach and to teach and to share with others how God works through the Foundation’s ministry.   I use gifts I have been given by God to do work that has been placed in my hands by God.  The mantle feels like joy.

I am a sinner, who every day has to decide whether to listen for God or not.  Every day I am asked to say yes to God.  Sometimes I say no.  The mantle feels undeserved.

I am a lay person in our church.  Four years ago I felt a call to pursue certification as a lay minister.  I told God that I couldn’t see where that path would lead – I couldn’t see how I could be of use to my church as a certified lay minister.  God told me to trust and obey.  God reminded me that when I do that, God does not leave me alone.  The mantle feels like the presence of God.

We are the church, and each of us – clergy and lay – has a call to God’s ministry.  What does the mantle feel like?  It’s different for each of us.  I do know this – for me, to wear God’s mantle of ministry creates in me a response of gratitude.  It is with incredible thanksgiving that I can say I am called to the ministry of God.  Each day I walk to the end of the light, and on days when I am very blessed, I am called to shine, and to be the light.

May it be so for you as well.

Praise

 

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I would post images of my office.  It's a little bit messy, but not too bad.  We've been, and remain, happily busy.

One of the lectionary readings for the week is Psalm 146.  It is a Psalm of praise.

I was reading a devotional out of Daily Feasting, and read this quote by Louis Stulman:

At its core the psalm is a meditation on what it means to praise God throughout life.  it addresses sustaining life commitments that shape attitude, behavior, worldview, and character; in other words, it attends to the building blocks of spirituality.

And then this one by the same author:

Accordingly, praise is more than an isolated act that takes place quickly and over a very short time.  It is durative and continuous, and envelops the continuum of life.  To be sure, praise of God is a fundamental commitment of life, no less essential to the faithful than oxygen is to the lungs.

That brought to mind a part of the training for CLM I read last year.  In the Worship module, it says:

If prayer is the primary means of Christan worship, the praise of our Triune God is one of the primary forms our praying takes.  Our praise of God is not flattery.  We do not praise God to gain something for ourselves,  neither is our praise simply a cathartic outpouring of positive emotion.  Rather, praise is our fully mindful and fully embodied response to our own and the world's experience of the presence and goodness of God.

I don't remember where I heard this or who said it, but I was in a meeting with a pastor (not mine), overhearing a conversation.  He said (something like), "They asked me if we could have a praise band.  I said yes, if we can also have a lamentation band."

So, some questions for our consideration.  I know "praise band" has come to mean a musical group that specializes in contemporary music.  Shouldn't all of our music praise God?  If you read the third quote, then you'll see that I don't mean that all of our music should be an outpouring of positive emotion, but couldn't all worshipful music be thought of as music that reflects our experience with the presence and goodness of God? 

And following that same thought (sort of), if praise is not the outpouring of positive emotion, then shouldn't our music, just like the scriptural psalms, reflect the whole range of our experiences with God, including the lamentations?  And can't lamentations be an expression of the our experience of the presence and goodness of God?  And if the definitions above are correct, then in some ways, couldn't lamentation be considered praise? (We wouldn't need a second band for that.)

Isn't the Sanctuary Choir, singing its traditional music, a praise band?  And isn't the trumpet voluntary at the end of a majestic hymn sounds of praise?  Why do we, in mainline, traditional churches, shy away from the word praise?  Isn't it our main purpose in worship?  And in the same vein, those who say that only contemporary music (and only contemporary music) is praise music are probably wrong.  As wrong as those who shy away from the "praise band."

We should all be praising God.

Tools for Discernment

Question from my Certified Lay Minister training material: Read “Our Theological Task,” Part II, Section 4, The Book of Discipline and Chapter 10, “Doctrinal Faithfulness and Continuing Exploration” from Bishop Carder’s book. Four “tools” – scripture, tradition, reason and experience – are proposed as a way of engaging in theological discussion for the twenty-first century while maintaining sound doctrine. Discuss these tools. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

There is a somewhat trite saying expressed often on t-shirts and posters that reads, “God isn’t finished with me yet.” The saying has become trite and overused because it contains a grain of truth. God is still active in the world, and God desires us to be in mission with him. Since that is the case, we need a way by which to discern truth in a modern world. Wesley offers us a method that employs four tools for us to use in our attempt to discern the will of God and in our theological discussions: scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

“The primary source and criterion for determining doctrine and engaging in theological exploration is the Bible.” (3) Our Articles of Religion state that “the Holy Scriptures containeth all things necessary to salvation….” This is an echo of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. It is necessary for us to undertake a serious study of the Bible, both individually and in community, so as to allow God’s grace to work through the Word. We do so taking care to interpret scripture in its many contexts, including historical, cultural and biblical. Citing a single passage in isolation can lead to dangerous misuse of the Word of God. According to Bishop Carder, “scripture does not yield its divine secrets carelessly or casually.”(3)

Because “the theological task does not start anew in each age or each person,”(4) we are instructed to recognize the role tradition can play in our theological explorations. It is important to use the light previous theological thought to illuminate our interpretation. The dangers in the use of this tool are an overreliance on tradition – allowing it to negate our own experience and reason as well as a reliance on a narrow traditional source instead of a broad range of interpretations.

Our use of experience is twofold. We are called to rely on our experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the confidence that we are becoming a new creation through God. Our relationship with God should aid us in discerning God’s will. Our life experience is the second facet of this tool that is important. We gain wisdom and understanding throughout our lives. The drawback of this tool is that we can elevate our personal experience above the guidance we receive from scripture, resulting in rationalization or distortions of God’s word.

As United Methodists we are called to bring reason into play. “The human mind is one of God’s most precious gifts and an important means of exploring, discerning and sharing God’s truth and mission.”(3) According to Wesley, religion and reason go hand in hand, and “an irrational religion is a false religion.”(3) As with any of the other tools for discerning God’s will, reason can be misused and abused.

3 - Carder, Kenneth L., Living our Beliefs, Chapter 10 (Doctrinal Faithfulness and Continuing Exploration).
4 - The Book of Discipline, Part II: Doctrinal Standards and our Theological Task, Section 4: Our Theological Task.

Connected

Part of my training for CLM asked me to discuss the idea of the Connection based on a reading of the Constitution and part of the Book of Discipline:

We are one universal church, “a community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ.”¹  We are one Body of Christ, and from that belief stems our connection.  “The church of Jesus Christ exists in and for the world, and its very dividedness is a hindrance to its mission in that world.”¹

The Book of Discipline defines the connection as “a vital web of interactive relationships….”²  It is part of our identity as United Methodist, and it is a tangible outgrowth of our belief in the Body of Christ.

The connection is experienced in almost every aspect of our organization, including clergy service, property ownership, and our organization for mission.  The United Methodist Church is organized in a manner to take advantage of our connected nature.  Our connection serves three purposes: (1) to enable a more effective method to carry out God’s mission in the world, (2) to organize the whole Church for the benefit of ministry in the local church and (3) to allow for the administration (connection) of the whole church to be faithful to our calling.²

For me, being a Connectional Church means that when I offer a presentation or a sermon at a church other than my own, I am still in my church.  It means that when there is a tornado in Kansas or a hurricane in Florida, I am there because my church is there, acting through UMCOR.  When there is a shooting at Virginia Tech, I am there, because the Wesley Foundation is there.  When my local church feeds 150 people on a Thursday, the entire United Methodist Church is there.  We are a Body of Christ, connected.

1.       Preamble of the Constitution of the United Methodist Church.

2.      The Book of Discipline, Administrative Order.

Living our Doctrine

As part of my CLM training, I reading the book Living Our Beliefs by Bishop Kenneth L. Carder.

First of all, let me say that the copy of the book I'm reading belongs to our Annual Conference's Resident Bishop -- I borrowed it from him.  It has the Bishop's highlighting in it.  Cool.

The introduction talks about the idea that some people believe that we United Methodists don't have any real beliefs -- that we are "live and let believe."  Not so. 

But, the United Methodist church did not originate out of a battle over doctrine.  We began as a renewal movement from the Church of England.  Carder states that Wesley's concern was that our beliefs shape our lives.  What we believe should have an impact on how we live our lives.

"In other words, beliefs are to be lived, doctrine is to be practiced."  An authentic belief will bear the fruit of impacting and shaping our lives into the image of Christ.

To me, that says that Wesley would not be as concerned that we state our doctrine as much as he would want our lives to demonstrate our doctrine.

Sound familiar?  To me it is right in line with James -- faith without works is dead.

CLM

I'm working on pursuing the training to become a United Methodist Certified Lay Minister.  There are four modules to the training, and the second one has four parts -- which means that there are seven sections to the training.  I've almost finished module 3 and then will move to completion with module 4.
I get some interesting questions:

1. Why are you doing this?  I'm a lay person who wants to be more equipped for the ministry to which I have been called, and this is one of the only ways I can find it.
2. What is your calling?  I am called to a ministry to the larger church, specifically as the Associate Director of the Foundation.   I am also called to give of my time to the ministry of my local church. It's easier for me to see how my gifts can be used at the Foundation.
3. Why aren't you just going for ordination?  That's an actual question someone asked me last night.  I don't like the question, and I think it devalues the role of laity in our church. 
4. What are you going to do as a certified lay minister?  I'm not sure, and this one question almost stopped me from starting the process.  Every time I tried to stop, I felt like God was nagging me to continue.  So I've stepped out in faith and just said, "yes."  I know what I'll be doing at the Foundation, but I'm not so certain about my church. 
5. What about the curriculum?  The curriculum is very specifically designed for a CLM who will be pastoring a church.  That is another challenge in this process.
6. Are you finding support  Most people don't understand what I am doing.  There are some who have been very supportive.li>

Servant, serve, stewardship

A question from my Certified Lay Ministry curriculum --

Look up scriptures that use the words serve, servant and stewardship.  Share one passage, and talk about the relationship between service and leadership.  Note that the word ministry means service.  As a group, explore the difference between this type of leadership and other understandings of leadership in our culture.

A few scripture examples:

• Luke 1:38:  Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Then the angel departed from her.
• John 12:26:  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.  Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
• 1 Timothy 4:6:  If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourishing the words of faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.
• 2 Timothy 2:24-26:  And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness.  God may perhaps grant that they will that they will repent and come to know the truth, and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
• Mark 10:42-45:  So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to becomes great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• 1 Peter 4:8-10:  Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  Be hospitable to one another without complaining.  Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve on another with whatever gift each of you has received.  Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.

Knowing that the questions requests a choice of one scripture and the use of it to discuss the relationship between service and leadership, I instead chose two.  Mark 10:42-45 defines how Jesus viewed leadership.   To be a leader is to be a servant.  We are to follow in the example of Christ, who leads us in all things, but does so by being a servant.  When love comes into the equation, our love of others and of God means that we place the needs of others above our own, that we do not seek glory or privilege for ourselves, but we seek to love and serve others, even to the cross.  Peter 4:8-10 speaks to the link between stewardship, service and leadership.  We become disciples of Christ, learning from him a way of life, and then we become stewards of what we have been given, using our gifts to change the world.  I like the phrase, “good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  We use what we have been given so that others will come to know the grace of God.  We use what we have been given in service to others so that God will be glorified, not ourselves.   

That is probably the biggest difference between servant leadership and secular leadership.  Leadership in our culture means glory, fame, success, authority, and power.  Servant leadership for Christ is counter to all of those values.

This Holy Mystery

I'm working on completing Module 2A for the Certified Lay Ministry training.  Module 2A is about Worship.  As a part of that module, I'm reading the United Methodist Church's statement about Communion  This Holy Mystery.

As I was reading it, it renewed my conviction that my beliefs align with those of the United Methodist Church.  As I was reading it, several statements made me think, "Yes.  Yes!"  Listed below are several quotes from the document.

• This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now.  Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was one in the past.  (There is a whole blog post in exploring just that sentence).
• We receive spiritual nourishment through Holy Communion.....  Wesley wrote that, "This is the food of our souls:  This gives strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection."
• John Wesley stressed that baptism is only a step in the salvation process and must be followed by justifying faith and personal commitment to Christ when one reaches an age of accountability  He referred to Holy Communion as "a converting ordinance."....The Wesleyan tradition has always recognized that Holy Communion may be an occasion for the reception of converting, justifying and sanctifying grace.
• We have no tradition of refusing any who present themselves desiring to receive.
• We do not share in Communion because of our worthiness; no one is truly worthy.  We come to the Eucharist out of our hunger to receive God's gracious love, to receive forgiveness and healing.

CLM -- Abraham's Call

I was approved last year by my Charge Conference to pursue certification as a lay minister. I'm working my way through that process. Part of Module 1 of the training concerns God's Call. Several scripture references are given, and the participant is asked to respond to a couple of questions. I found this an interesting exercise, and I'll post some of my responses on the blog as we move along.

I've added my own question at the end:

Person and Passage: Abraham in Genesis 12:1-9

How did the person involved hear God’s call to them?

God’s call to Abram was heard at first in Haran, where he had gone with his father, wife and cousin, Lot. He “hears” it – “Now the Lord said to Abram…” Later, along the journey, and in the same passage, God appears to Abram at the Oak of Moreh. Moreh is a Hebrew term for teaching or instructing. Literally, God appears to Abram at the Oak that Instructs. Abram and his descendants are people of the Land, and it is natural that their connection to God often appears through nature. Perhaps that speaks to us as well – God finds us where we are.

What was the response of the person to God’s call? Did they freely answer the call? How did they feel about the call?

Abram did as God calls. He packs up his family and his possessions and leaves his father’s house, moving on to Canaan. Toward the end of this passage, he builds two altars to the Lord. Abram’s response is one of obedience and worship. In the Message, the last verse is translated as “Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.”

What it says to me:

God comes to us where we are and reaches toward us in the midst of what we are doing. To hear him requires faith on our parts – faith in the belief that God will speak to us; will call to us. Abraham doesn’t perfectly answer his call – just reading through Genesis will confirm that, but he worships God and then he “kept moving, steadily making his way….” If we do that, then we will see the presence of God in our lives, moving steadily with us.