Minister's Musing

Rev. Mark Ward
Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville

January 2008

I once heard someone suggest that we will know that our churches have succeeded when there is no more laity, just ministry in our movement. I was going to use that quote in my description of the service I have planned for January 27, “What Is This Thing Called Ministry?,” but I thought better of it, realizing that it needs a little more explanation.

As I understand that statement, it doesn’t mean that all Unitarian Universalists need to go to seminary or be ordained by congregations. Those are steps required of those seeking to enter the professional ministry. While it is certainly important for the vitality of our movement to develop effective leaders, even more important, I think, is that our churches find ways to nurture, support and inspire all of our members to be people of integrity and spiritual depth who live their values and serve humankind.

The old image is that ministers are like shepherds, which, of course, suggests that the laity are like sheep. We Unitarian Universalists reject that imagery. The religious life is not about passively accepting someone else’s doctrine. It is about each of us actively exploring what it is to be human, the meaning of our lives and our connection with all things. There are many guides available to us on that journey, but the conclusion ultimately is our own. We exist as a church to both challenge and support each other along the way, gathered under a covenant of acceptance and love.

I’ll have more to say about this on the 27th. For now I also wanted to call your attention to the service on January 13, when I have invited Tom Swift, a hospice chaplain, to speak. Tom works with my wife, Debbie; I have just begun to get to know him myself. He is in the unusual position of counseling people in the last days of their lives, while also struggling with a degenerative illness himself. It is, I think, a unique ministry that is worth hearing about. I also invite you as an act of ministry to welcome him and hear his story.