Lasting in Ministry - Part 2

If you want to have lasting impact, you need to last in ministry a long time. By lasting I don’t just mean quantity of time but quality, bringing our full self to the work. In last week’s blog, I shared three key practices for lasting in ministry. In this one I’ll share three more. If you missed the first three practices, check out last week’s blog.

Practice Four: Have a healthy prayer life

We need a quiet time on a regular basis that we spend with God. If we lose this practice for too long then we are done. I’ve always loved the simplicity of a quote from St. Alphonsus Liguori in the catechism, “Those who pray are certainly saved, those who don’t are certainly not.” We can modify the quote for our purposes in this way, “Church staff and ministers who pray will almost certainly last in ministry and those that don’t won’t.” This blog series is listing ten ways to last in ministry, so arguing that you need more than just prayer and quiet time, but you cannot last without it.

We acknowledge how vital prayer is to the Christian Walk and yet it can be so much easier to talk about prayer than to actually do it. We can fall out of the habit or start to go through the motions and check out.

When it comes to making prayer a consistent habit, you need a time, a place, and a plan. Set aside time for prayer. Set aside at least 10 minutes for prayer and then work to grow into an hour over time. For most people it is the morning. I find if I get into my day and don’t start with prayer, I just don’t do it. Most people are like that, but if you are not a morning person - if no one likes to be with you in the morning, if even Jesus doesn’t want to be with you in the morning - then find time at lunch or in the evening.

Your place matters. Find a place away from everyone else. In my house with eight kids, no place exists except early in the morning. So I need to do it before everyone is up. I have a place on the couch I go to every day. John Ortberg notes if you go to a place often enough for prayer, it will become a sacred space.

To be consistent at prayer, you need a plan. To keep prayer fresh, mix up your plan from time to time. My plan always incudes some form of Scripture reading and reflection. Sometimes I read the daily Mass readings. Right now I am reading through the New Testament. My plan also includes the Ignatian Examen and reading a spiritual book. Reading a spiritual book keeps my prayer fresh. There is much more that could be said about a prayer plan, but the key is to have one.

One final thought on prayer is to just keep showing up. Show up consistently for prayer and you will find it having a greater impact on our life. Persevere in growing in prayer. This was perhaps Jesus’ most repeated point when it comes to prayer. Persevere.

Prayer feeds us and produces growth but we don’t always feel it or experience it. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus compares the word of God to seed. Some seed falls on a path and is eaten by birds. Some seed falls on rocky ground and springs up but is immediately scorched by the sun. Some seed falls on good ground but is choked by thorns. Some seed falls on fertile ground and produces a hundred-fold fruit.

Sometimes we pray or read Scripture and it just doesn’t pierce our heart. Nothing happens. Sometimes we experience something in prayer but then forget it quickly. Sometimes we pray and experience God, but then get so distracted by our cares, we forget what God said. But sometimes we pray and we hold onto God’s word in our heart. We have a sweet prayer time. Even just one verse, one phrase sticks with us and it can bear a hundred-fold return. It can change and transform us dramatically.

So even if only one in four times you have great success in prayer, you will see great personal change as a result. But you have to show up consistently.

Practice Five: Stay focused on the mission to make disciples

The reason we serve in a parish is to make fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. That’s why we exist. When we lose our why we lose our way. We get distracted by tons of other activities and events that don’t help people follow Christ and we get burned out. Or so often church workers will try to get people to behave in a certain way and will get frustrated when they don’t. There is a temptation to manipulate people rather than truly lead them. That leads to burn out or cynicism as well.

We invite people to engage in the life of the parish because we want something for them and not from them. We want them to follow Jesus because as Andy Stanley says, “Following Jesus makes your life better and makes you better at life.” Invite people to serve, to give, to engage in Christian community, to prayer and the sacraments, to share their faith because these practices and habits will build the Church and help them follow Jesus.

Keep the focus on making disciples and you will last in ministry. Try to manipulate people and you will burn out and get cynical.

Practice Six: Celebrate Wins

Simon Sinek published a book called The Infinite Game. He notes that successful businesses see themselves in work that goes on forever. As Church workers, we are in the true infinite game. Eternity is on the line and there is always more work to do. Sunday is always coming. There is always someone else who can use prayer or who is sick. There are always more ways to strategize. We can always do more work to figure out how we can make the weekend experience better and more attractive to outsiders. There is always more to figure out about how to improve homilies and messaging and communication. If you care about your ministry, you want to get bigger and better. That’s a holy ambition. But that work is never done and so we need to stop both in giving ourselves time off but also in stopping to celebrate wins. Stopping to celebrate wins encourages our hearts and reminds us of the why behind our work and efforts.

Both our staff at Nativity and at Rebuilt make it a weekly habit to do this practice. Nativity does it after our weekly staff lunch. We have a staff of 30 so we pass around the microphone and whoever wants to share a win from the past week does so. At Rebuilt we have a smaller staff and so practice this habit in our weekly team meeting, each member is asked to share a win. Wins can be stories of life change, how someone has grown in their faith or noting the extra effort of a volunteer or another staff person.

Another way I celebrate wins is by keeping a wins file in my email. Whenever someone sends an encouraging note or message of thanks for something in the church, I put it in that file. From time to time, I read those emails to remind me that God is using Nativity, Rebuilt, and me to make disciples. Stories of impact always encourage my heart.

Take a moment to reflect on which of these three steps resonate with you. Which one will help you last in ministry - so that you can have a lasting impact?

Rooting for you,
Tom