So, What Is It That You Do?

Occasionally someone will ask, "Just what is it that do you do as a Conference Minister in the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ?"  This question may come from a member of one of our local churches, a seatmate on a plane, or even from a family member who wonders why I left the ministry of the local church. 

The answer must begin with baptismal identity.  Ultimately, I am "a child of God, a disciple of Christ, a member of the Church."  Christ has claimed and called me, as he claims and calls us all in the waters of baptism.  God's love is there with us no matter what.  It is not about the attainments of a lifetime, academic degrees or doctrinal precision; it is about love, first, foremost, and aways: God's love for me, for us, for the whole world. 

The answer will also take me back to the ordination vows, when I promised to live in covenant with Christ and Christ's people.  I the questions are renewed in my memory this morning: 

• Are you persuaded that God has called you to be an ordained minister of the church of Jesus Christ, and are you ready . . . to enter . . . and to serve faithfully? 
• Do you . . hear the word of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and do you accept the word of God as the rule of Christian faith and practice? 
• Do you promise to be diligent in your private prayers and in reading the scriptures, as well as in the public duties of your office? 
• Will you be zealous in maintaining both the truth of the gospel and the peace of the church, speaking the truth in love? 
• Will you be faithful in preaching and teaching the gospel, in administering the sacraments and rites of the church, and in exercising pastoral care and leadership? 
• Will you seek to regard all people with equal love and concern and undertake to minister impartially to the needs of all? 
• Do you accept the faith and order of the United Church of Christ, and will you, as an ordained minister in this communion, ecumenically reach out toward all who are in Christ and show Christian love to people of other faiths and people of no faith?

And, in recent days, my response to what it is that I really do as a Conference Minister takes me back to to the birthing stall in the barn.  The barn wasn't just across the yard, but five miles away.  After supper, Dad would often drive back to the barn to check on a ewe that appeared to be starting with labor pains when he had done the evening's chores.  I would often go along.  Those were very special times, as I hugged the gas lantern for light and warmth in the cold, dim stall.  Sometimes those visits were short, nothing doing tonight.  Sometimes we sat for hours, waiting for new life to come forth.

In the past six weeks, as four congregations in the New Hampshire Conference, United Church of Christ, have called new pastors to love and to lead in their midst, I am reminded of the time spent in the old, drafty barn.  In this ministry, I often share the grief of good-bye with congregations and pastoral leaders.  Now, even in Lent, there is birth, new life to behold.  God has raised up pastors and teachers, prophets and administrators, who will equip the saints for the work of ministry together.  This is truly an exciting moment for us all. 

So, what does a Conference Minister do?  Well, I suppose you might say that this Conference Minister is a witness to new life, to the birth that the Spirit brings, and to the hope that is alive among our churches in these days.

I give thanks to God for the joy of this ministry.  Indeed, thanks be to God!