What IS Mutual Ministry?

Mutual ministry, sometimes called "total ministry," is a term used to encourage God's people as they share in the one ministry - that is, as they share in Christ's ministry. At its very core is the understanding that we are all ordained to ministry at our baptism and that ministry is a way of life.

Thus, mutual ministry describes the shared ministry of all baptized people. It encourages us to move away from a primary focus on the ministry of ordained clergy and includes all the people of God in the mutual work of ministry. There is one ministry in Christ and all baptized people participate in it according to the gifts given them.

For a long time and in many places, we have allowed ourselves to be communities gathered around a minister rather than being ministering communities. And for too long, the church perhaps has forgotten the real meaning of the word "laos" - the root from which the word "laity" comes - the root whose real meaning is "the people of God."

In embracing mutual ministry, we understand that we are God's beloved. Just as Jesus emerged from the waters of baptism to the announcement that "this is my son, my beloved; in him I am well pleased..." we too emerge from the waters of our baptisms as God's beloved, empowered to share in Christ's ministry, empowered to bring God's love and God's truth to a broken world.

We understand we are given to each other - God's people - to look for and draw the Christ from each one of us. Together we help one another recognize that we are, indeed, God's beloved and that we are to respond to the One who loved us first by recognizing the God-given gifts each person has for ministry. As a community we affirm those gifts God calls us to offer within the community and in our daily lives, and we work together to match our gifts to the needs of the church and the wider community.

Mutual ministry is a commitment to recognize that we all share in Christ's ministry. It is a process as we listen prayerfully together, as we discern various gifts, and as we become more and more in touch with ministry as a way of life, living out our ministries in the church and in daily life.

One of the ways the process is lived out is through the creation of various ministry support teams that help us discern what God is calling us to do individually and collectively, matching our gifts to our calls. In a mutual ministry congregation, clergy are part of the team, not the directors or sole providers of ministry. Pastoral care, Christian formation, preaching, leading, teaching, and spiritual guidance are shared by all the members.

Mutual Ministry at New Song

From its beginning in 1994, New Song has held the vision of being a mutual ministry congregation and understood that it is a ministering community, rather than a community gathered around a minister.

From its beginning, it has had ministry teams to help develop, facilitate, and support ministries both within the congregation and in the wider community. New Song's first ministry team, through prayer, spiritual development, and planning, developed New Song's mission and vision statements and encouraged its first members to discern the particular ministry gifts.

The Bishop's Committee is called to be faithful, visionary, spiritual leaders. They are to assure the mission and vision of the church is carried out within the congregation and the wider community and to represent New Song in all corporate property matters.

The Liturgy Team is composed of people deeply in love with the liturgy of this church and called to that particular ministry, and it plans the worship for all liturgical seasons. The Altar Ministry Team prayerfully tends to preparing the worship space.

People joining together in the Care Ministry Team offer their great gifts of caring for God's people and meet regularly to train and to attend to the pastoral needs of the New Song congregation. The Lay Eucharistic Ministry Team serves as representatives of our Christian community, the Body of Christ, as they offer sacramental ministry to those who are homebound or in the hospital.

Other teams offer their gifts of hospitality for welcoming new people into this congregation - gifts for leading both children and adults as they grow more and more in their understanding of their faith - gifts for leading us as we go out to do Christ's work in the world.

The Ministry Development Team was formed through a commendation process in 2004 as New Song anticipated the priest's retirement in 2005. Through Bible study and training, the Team will help discern, support, and encourage the many varied calls to the ministry, including those who may be ordained as deacons and priests.

Since before New Song's first service, faithful people have embraced the ministry of growing this church, of inviting, welcoming, and incorporating people into it. This work continues as new people continue to come into our midst.

At New Song, all who seek Christ are welcome at the table. Not just the table of the feast, but also the table of leadership, of decision-making, of prayer, and the table of grace. We at New Song strive to live out the call of our community, both within and beyond the walls of the church building. We learn together, grow together, lead together, struggle together, and, with God's help, grow ever closer to Christ's vision for New Song and for the world.