“Mistake-Inspired Ministry”
Dear Church,
Reading one of the many online “blogs” that I follow in the course of my ministry and mission, I was struck by one entry written by a fellow who described the role of grandparents in the life of the church. Not grandparents in the family sense—those who have grandchildren—but grandparents in the Christian sense: people who have devoted years upon years of their lives to being and building the church and are now being called to helping younger generations build upon what is now here.
And that is where we find ourselves as a family of faith—ever since you called me to be your pastor, we have, in one fashion or another, been looking at how to pass the proverbial baton from generation to generation so that our community may continue to benefit from our presence, and so that our neighbors may come to know the grace and love of God as revealed by Jesus Christ.
But, just as in any relay race, where there is a chance that the baton will be dropped from runner to runner, so too is there a chance that we as a church may make mistakes—ideas we have for outreach may not work, new ministries may not get off the ground—and for those who have helped sustain this church through thick and thin, it may hurt to see those sorts of things happen. But if we are making no mistakes, we are not really doing ministry—we are being far too safe, far too insular, and far too scared to actually go out on a limb for Christ’s message of absolute, unconditional, unlimited love for all people.
So let us continue to spread that message, and if not all our attempts to do so succeed, let that be okay. Let us not merely learn from our mistakes in ministry, but be inspired by them to do better!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Eric
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