Leadership Thought: A Message and Some Mango Juice and a Ministering Member.

Dear Friends.

I often remind church members that ministry takes place from the pulpit to the pew and from the pew to the pew and from the pew to the pulpit.

Ministry takes place from the pulpit to the pews as the pastor shares a message that hopefully encourages and inspires those members sitting in the pews.

Ministry takes place from the pew to the pew as members express their love and concern for one another, sometimes called body life ministry.

And finally, ministry takes place from the pew to the pulpit as members find ways to encourage and serve their pastor.

It is easy to forget that ministers need ministry as well as members. Sometimes ministry can be hard and demanding, and yes, even at times, discouraging.

As ministers, we are generally more comfortable being on the giving end than on the receiving end. But sometimes it’s important, yes, even necessary for us to be on the receiving end. 

Last week was particularly challenging for me.

Addressing the decline  in Jean’s health as she continues battling Parkinson’s, has necessitated a change in my schedule, resulting in my having to work almost exclusively from home.

Care giving can be emotionally and physically draining, something I have discovered in caring for my precious wife. I was feeling this way last week. I was worn out, and discouraged, and then they arrived.

At my front doorstep was a message in the form of a personal poem written to Jean and me, and along with it there was a bottle of mango juice.

The one who left it knew I loved Trader Joe’s mango juice, something he discovered at a recent meeting at his house.  I had been sharing my love for mango juice, and hearing me speak about it, he proceeded to lead me to a kitchen closet. In opening the door I discovered what must have been at least 50 half gallon bottles of mango juice lined up on his closet shelves, which, like me, he had purchased at Trader Joe’s.

Since then, like connoisseurs of fine wine, we have often talked about our love for "our juice."

Along with that that bottle of mango juice, I noted an 8” x 11” piece of paper with a picture and some typed words. They were not just any words, but words my friend had crafted into a personal poem. The poem was brimming  with love and appreciation for Jean and me. His words were too flattering to share lest I be accused of making this message self-serving, but I can tell you that tucked away in that four-stanza poem were words I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Yes, my friend knew that ministry takes place from the pulpit to the pew, and the pew to the pew, but on that day when his pastor needed a spiritual and emotional lift, he knew that ministry takes place from the pew to the pulpit, from a member to his minister.

We sometimes need to be reminded as one pastor commented, "That stained glass windows are a lot like pastors. They're really good at hiding stormy weather. They may appear to be immune from the roughness of life. But they’re not-unless they're well protected."

My friend left some juice and a piece of paper with a few typed words on my doorstep. However, he may never know their value of that bottle and those words, gifts of love and kindness that this pastor will never forget.

Maybe inwardly he knew what that pastor wrote: that ministers, like stained glass windows, won't be much good  "unless they are well protected."

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom