‘Small’ church emissaries meet,
have big plans

By Rick Govan,
lay ministry development director

Parishioners and clergy from ‘small’ churches throughout the diocese gathered in mid-April at St. Paul, Athens, to trade information and to develop fellowship and community.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg welcomed the group and participated throughout the day. Models for local, shared ministry were explored by the Rev. Susanna Metz, associate rector at St. John the Baptist, Battle Creek, and Director of the Center for Ministry in Small Churches at the School of Theology in Sewanee.

“The roles and expectations of both clergy and laity look different in a congregation when alternative models of ministry are put in place,” she said. “These models make use of part-time clergy, bi-vocational clergy and clergy who serve in the role of convener or missioner of a team working together for more than one congregation. Team ministry is an excellent vehicle for raising up the ministry of the laity.”

The group looked at church canons and discussed the various options for licensed lay ministers within their communities. Harry Howard, a parishioner at St. Andrew, Maryville, and a postulant for priesthood, led the group in a discussion of “Discernment ... What can I do to discover the call of God?”

“The history of the Church has been that individual calls are to be tested in the local community of the faithful,” he said, “and that vocation includes our total being, our posture, our way of being in the world.”

Those gathered expressed a unanimous desire to meet periodically. Additional topics for future discussion include church growth, Christian education, music and worship, outreach and more on discernment and lay ministry opportunities.