Anatomy of a Care Ministry: Dissecting Donna

After a summer of concentrated prayer and exploring with the senior pastor how to care for the church body, I accepted the formal invitation to consider the board position of leading Care Ministries at Park Street Church. I have never, in my thirty years of church experience, gone through this church's particular process of moving into a leadership position. The beginning steps were familiar enough; seek God's will for my involvement at church, dialogue with others currently in care ministry at Park Street Church through lay leadership, and share ideas and dreams with the pastor on what it could be.

But last night moved from these small steps to one giant leap into a place I haven't been before. I was interviewed by a large group at church  bearing the openly accountable title, Spiritual Health Team. A position on a committee with that moniker would certainly drive me to more vigiliance regarding my Christian walk! Their task was to discover if I possessed the Biblical qualifications of a leader while posing questions about my own historical walk with the Lord, my family and my leadership skills. They assured me I wouldn't fail if I didn't meet all of the qualifications (no one is perfect, right?).

For a solid hour this dedicated group of people asked probing questions in order to get to know me on both a personal and vocational level. Although you truly don't know someone until you've lived with him or her, or in the case of church ministry worked side by side with that person, I was quite impressed by the effort. But the most remarkable piece of the process for me was the request for my husband's presence. The team inquired about Jim's spiritual journey as well and endeavored to know him personally.

Inviting a spouse to this juncture of  decison making is advantageous on many levels. For me, it provided a marriage enrichment bonus as I listened to Jim's responses with curiousity and admiration. For the Spiritual Health Team, it afforded them the opportunity to see that Jim adds to my own spiritual health with his steadfastness in the Lord and even temperament. For Jim, it gave him a different venue to express his faith as well as show support for my calling and service to the Lord. All in all, if the candidate for leadership has a spouse, it is a win win situation to have the spouse present. I especially appreciate the insight the committee could have gotten if Jim wasn't supportive. Perhaps even more importantly, if marriage issues or personal problems surfaced, it would give this group of people a chance to minister to us.

Harkening back to the anatomy analogy, I do admit my bones were a little rattled while driving home from the interview last evening. But a little shaking up is good for the soul and a lot of accountability is good for the church body. I'm thankful for these "inquiring minds who want to know" if I hold myself accountable to the Bible, my spouse and God's will for my life.

This morning I praise the Lord with this psalm that expresses my thoughts about my new season of  ministry:

" You make known to me the path of life;
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
                                          Psalm 16:11 (ESV)