I think we've invented a new kind of ministry.

Pastors and churches engage in a whole bunch of ministries: preaching, worship, pastoral care, faith formation, public ministry/advocacy… to name a few.  I think maybe my group of people have invented a new one: Exploratory Ministry.

When I started my position in September, the senior pastor asked me, “What should your title be?”  Huh.  Good question.  I asked to make one up, and without a whole lot of thought I said, “How about we call me Pastor of Exploratory Ministry.” A quick Google search seems to indicate I’m the only Pastor of Exploratory Ministry out there.  I invite you to do some digging to see if I’m right or wrong about that.

As a facilitator of a ministry like this, I’m finding it necessary to give space for people to explore their needs and the needs of the larger community.  Some needs float to the surface.  Here’s the big, underlying assumption:  The process of exploration is what actually allows people to speak aloud their needs; the ministry is then shaped around that which is articulated. 

In my experience, this is opposite of how most churches run.  We usually have a set list of ministries.  And we either assume they meet the needs of people, or worse yet, we actually let those ministries dictate and drive what the needs of the people are.  Kind of like.... People in churches must have a need for a sermon, right?  That’s why we do them?

Instead of being outcome-based, I’m noticing that exploratory ministry is process-based.  Using the analogy of a garden, the goal and emphasis of exploratory ministry isn’t the harvest.  Instead, the focus is on the tending.  When the garden is tended to, the garden will naturally, organically produce a harvest.  Boy, that's a pretty good life lesson for me.

Exploring is a process—tending, articulating, letting our vulnerabilities show, looking to others and understanding their needs, reflecting on the world and what it needs…  Exploring opens our eyes to that which stirs our passion and turns our hearts to loving others.   

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