Ministerium?

[Mike Schutz]

Is there an active ministerium (group of pastors from different denominations) in your community? Please describe it, including some of the associated activities. How effective is it in encouraging interaction between various churches in your community?

[Tami Martin]

I don't see a poll Mike, but I'll answer the question :)

We have a ministerial alliance in our town. Many of the pastors of the various churches belong. Their primary activity is helping the needy. We have concerts (local churches bringing special music and such) on the fifth Sundays for free will offerings to raise money for that. Occasionally, the alliance hosts an event for the whole community if something special is in our area (again, concerts or evangelistic efforts). They also have an area youth group that does stuff for the teens a few times a year.

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

We have a very active Ministerial Alliance. The group:


Meets monthly
Oversees the local Helping Hands program
Helps oversee the operation the food pantry
Sponsors Good Friday service
Sponsors Thanksgiving Service
Sponsors a Christmas Walk-a-Mile
Participates in the High School Baccalaureate service
Organizes clergy to offer the invocation prayer at City Council meetingsI am the webmaster of our web page. It is at http://www.ministerialalliance.net/

[Gary Swartzlander]

I am the webmaster of our web page. It is at http://www.ministerialalliance.net/

There's a big surprise!!

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

There's a big surprise!!

What can I say....:D

[DA Weaver]

We have a ministerial association. To my knowledge they meet monthly for breakfast and prayer. At one time they used to walk the streets of town and had a "prayer walk" as they did. I'm not sure if they still do that or not, as our last pastor was involved and shared often from the pulpet about it. I don't know that our current pastor has had an opportunity to attend / join, as he's only been a part of the community for three months now. I think it's encouraged good things. Last year they hosted a community wide event for the teens with a Christian band, special speakers, donations from the community including gift cards to Wal-Mart, fast food restaurants, cd's, t-shirts, etc... I forget what curriculum they used, but it was the same one I had picked out for my son for his devotions.

Anyway, I think they do a great job of bring believers together to pray for the community and schools. At one point, I recall their requesting people to volunteer to walk the halls of the schools to pray for the students and staff in the school system. Each school in the community, including the Christian and Catholic school had people walking the halls praying for the Lord to minister. It seems as if each school was prayed for over a 24 hour period of someone walking / praying in the facility.

[Gina Stevenson]

Denise, that school idea seems to be a good thing. God knows the schools could sure use as much prayer as they can get, with the things kids bring to school [emotionally, so many coming from broken homes] ... things that happen there, etc.

[Barb Bouldrey]

Our Ministerial Allliance is just about the same as Scott described. I hosted this month's meeting Tuesday at noon.

John enjoys the fellowship.

The president also attends the Chamber of Commerce meetings monthly and attends the annual Spring Chamber fundraising and awards dinner.

Barb

[Jeremy D. Scott]

The Hingham & Hull Religious Leaders Association is hardly a ministerium. We don't even call it a clergy group (hence "religious leaders"). Of regular participation are Roman Catholic, Universalist-Unitarian (three parishes in town), American Baptist, Evangelical (that's me), Episcopalian, Jewish, United Church of Christ, Mormon, and Ba'Hai. The only main religious group we lack is Islam.

The other Baptist church in town (which is the largest congregation in town) isn't "allowed" to participate I'm told (by their own choice). Though they do send an associate now and then. That's sad to me.

And the Executive Director (Herb Newell) of our Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Center (Friends of the Homeless of the South Shore) comes as well. It's quite a diverse group, and I look forward to going every month.

[Ron Davis]

Our ministerial alliance meets one a month and we also have a youth pastors group that tries to meet monthly.

Activities include:

Community Thanksgiving service
Short-term low-dollar financial assistance (gas, food, etc.) for those sorts of requests.
Other joint projects like working with Convoy of Hope.
3-4 teen activities per year.
Weekly pastor's bible study using the lectionary.

[Kevin Rector]

When I got to Wausau to pastor I called around to several of the churches to find out if there is a ministerium. The general consensus was that there wasn't. After being here for two years I finally got invited to the pastor's prayer breakfast for the first time this month (it was around two years ago).

It's not a true ministerium in an ecumenical sense, rather it's for the pastors in the evangelical church. The guy that invited me to it has told me that he'd also invite me to the pastors lunch which I think is made up of mostly the mainline and liberal pastors of the old downtown churches.

Pretty sad really how divided the body is up here.

[Mike Schutz]

The other Baptist church in town (which is the largest congregation in town) isn't "allowed" to participate I'm told (by their own choice). Though they do send an associate now and then. That's sad to me.


Jeremy, Is South Shore Baptist the Baptist church that participates, or the one that doesn't?

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Jeremy, Is South Shore Baptist the Baptist church that participates, or the one that doesn't?

The one that doesn't.

Gary Ludwig of First Baptist is a very active participant. I have really appreciated his help these first two years here in Hingham.

[Mike Schutz]

Jeremy raises an important point.

Of the pastor's groups I've observed, lack of participation by area churches seems to be due to two factors:
1. lack of time, especially for bi-vocational clergy,
2. sectarian issues.

I think I think that for a ministerium to be attractive and successful, it must be helpful to clergy in their personal spiritual life, not just another aspect of their jobs.

Thoughts?

[Kevin Rector]

I think I think that for a ministerium to be attractive and successful, it must be helpful to clergy in their personal spiritual life, not just another aspect of their jobs.

Thoughts?

I'm not that experienced with them but I'm not sure I'd have the time to be a part of a ministerium that added substantially to my work load (like some I've heard of where they do a lot of charitable work).

The group I participated in and will go back to is simply a time of fellowship, breakfast, and prayer. It was a very refreshing break and also encouraging. It was a time to be ministered to, which is something that can sometimes be hard for pastors to find.

[Mike Schutz]

I'm not that experienced with them but I'm not sure I'd have the time to be a part of a ministerium that added substantially to my work load (like some I've heard of where they do a lot of charitable work).


Exactly. However, for our ministerium (and others that I am examining), compassionate ministry working through a ministerium reduces the work of a pastor. For example, by working together, not every church needs a food pantry or clothing ministry. When someone comes to a church needing food, the pastor can refer them to the center which may be housed in another church. And those members of a congregation who want to get involved in such compassionate ministry are not demanding that their church start a program.

Last Saturday, we had a Christmas party for over 500 members of our community who have come to our center over the past year. We had 117 volunteers from 10 different churches. Six pastors (3 from my church) were present.

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

We use to have a neighbor, who worked as a secretary, of a good sized Methodist church. She said when people called for food, to direct them to their church. Once, men came around, and gave out bags for us to fill with non perishable food. They ought to do that at least a time or two each year to the Millington churches. Our church keeps a small cabinet of perishable food, if we shoud need it in an emergency.

[Mike Schutz]

For me, the primary benefit of my ministerium is support and encouragement.

We meet monthly for prayer and support. Following our last meeting, one of the pastors sent everyone an email stating that the 90 minutes we just spent together were the most spiritually uplifting time he had had in weeks.

In addition, I meet every other week with a smaller group for accountability.

It has become a spiritual lifeline for me.