Equip People for Ministry

One of the wonderful outcomes of the Protestant Reformation was a renewed enthusiasm for all Christians to be involved in the ministry of the church.

Whilst Jesus has given some word ministers as special gifts to his church, their role is to equip all Christians to be engaged in ministry, as we read in Ephesians 4:

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12)

As our staff drafted our new mission statement, we recognised the need to give a fresh priority to this in our church, so our second phrase is, “equip people for ministry.”

We want each of you in our church to feel like you’re growing in wisdom, knowledge, and skills as we all work together to see each person in our village, valley and region know how to follow Jesus and why it matters.

To help us do this together, we’ve started to explore options to offer personalised, online training to each member of our church, which can help you grow at your own pace, in your own time.

We’re hoping this will cover all sorts of skills and knowledge training, from theology and small group teaching, through to prayer and safe ministry.

We’re also reviewing a so-called ‘leadership pipeline’ framework that will help each of you to consider your next step in serving in our church.

You are very valuab le to us, and each of you plays a vital role in our church as Jesus uses each of us to build his church, both in size and strength.

As we start 2023 together, how can we equip you to grow in your Christian knowledge, skill and character?

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Tara Angkor Hotel via Flickr.com)