Thoughts On Ministry

• Posted by Rev. Elizabeth Hoff, ULC December 23, 2016 - #  #Faith  #ministry  ##Christianity  - 1,011 views

  Recent experience has taught me that there is more to being a minister (MUCH more, in fact) than doing weddings.

  I am concerned that there are FAR too many people joining the ULC for the sole purpose of doing weddings.  (When I hear a ULC minister describe their work as a "wedding ministry", to me it screams, "I'm in this for the money".  It's somethng akin to a plastic surgeon who focuses their practice exclusively on removing warts.)

  Recently, I have been witness to several miracles:

   

  • I have seen a man being healed of major psychological trauma.  
  • A divorced couple is now reconciling.
  • Two feuding families are now setting aside their differences and coming together.

   

  There is more to ministry than doing weddings.  (I personally have been hearing a lot of confessions lately.  There have been several occasions recently where total strangers have poured out their hearts to me upon learning that i was a minister.)

  Being a minister is ultimately about being God's instrument, about being "in the right place at the right time".  It's about allowing God to use you for His purposes.  It's about being a channel for His grace, His mercy, and His energy.

  If God has a plan for your ministry that involves something other than doing weddings, to hang out a shingle as a "wedding minister" is a  slap in God's face ("You cannot serve both God and money." -- Matthew 6:24).  It is defiance.  It is disobedience.  It is arrogance.

  If it is God's intention that you will do a wedding, it will be on His schedule and on His terms alone.

  I am concerned that certain ministers among us are making light of that which is to be held sacred (marriage is a sacrament).  When we make the mistake of fixating on weddings, we are seeking to limit God (He Who Is Limitless), His Work, and the Works that He wishes to do through us.