This theology of ministry is submitted in accordance with Program Outcome 4 (c): Identity stating graduate will have clarity in professional identity (c) expresses a clear understanding of the relationship between one’s professional identity and the life and mission of the church in the world.
My theology of ministry is summed up by a focus on loving God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving neighbor as Christ has loved me, humbling himself in service and in the laying down of his life. My purpose of ministry is clearly stated in 2
Corinthians 5:18 noting that “God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,
gave us a ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them…We are therefore Christ’s
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” I am an ambassador, representing God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to the world where I live as an alien, looking forward to ultimate reconciliation in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Until then, I represent the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven and as it will be in a new heaven and a new earth. I serve with joy only by the unique power and grace given me through an indwelling Holy Spirit, as I believe in the saving work of Christ’s death and resurrection for all.
As I reflect on this theology of ministry written in my first semester of the program, these basic premises still ring true. The thing that has changed is the conviction that this ministry is only lived out in community, united with those in the gathering (ekklesia) of God, under his reign, a part of his kingdom, for the sake of the world, bearing witness to God’s abundance through gratitude, generosity and hospitality. As Jesus’ body, the church speaks and demonstrates good news in ways that restore, redeem and reconcile right relationships between people and God, people and the earth, people and themselves, and people with one another. The Father and Spirit sent Christ into the world to reconcile God and mankind, but the Father, Son and Spirit send the church into the world to continue to reconcile, redeem and restore. I am so thrilled to a part of this metanarrative, God’s ministry of reconciliation for the world!