Ministries While We Wait

The Church is the Pilgrim People on the way to the Kingdom. Our images of the Church since the days of the Second Vatican Council have changed into a more dynamic view of people on the move. We are a people waiting for the Kingdom. While we wait, in one sense, we share in the works of the Kingdom. The actions of God surround us and invite us to the mystery of God around us.

On a very practical lived level we as Church are what we do and how we relate to each other. Along with the long tradition of the sacraments as the intense expressions of God with us and the becoming more a part of that mystery, the Church is and does mission. We preach and share the gospel within the community itself and within the world at large. We take the mysteries celebrated in the sacraments and in our practical living of the gospel. We live them within the service which believers do in working for the Kingdom.

Church as Consumer Product

As part of our American culture often enough the Church is viewed as yet another consumer product. Services, indeed, are provided and utilized. Worship, education, social life are a part of Church communities. We seek to consume these activities as products which help us feel better, educate our children, and generally network with other believers. It is normal enough that we look to have our needs met by the parish. Needs met, we move on to another community, or another activity, or better, to another level of personal involvement.

In this sense, ministries are approached with a practical and efficiency point of view. There are tasks and services to be provided. One looks for talents and skills to delivery the necessary services.

Ministries are more than products or services in response to practical needs. It is through ministries that the Church both says what it is and allows it to become a vibrant organism of the who the Church is. Ministries reveal the presence of God in the world. They are ways in which disciples are able to hear their call and discern God’s will for them. Disciples are called to ministry, to the service of God and of our brothers and sisters.

Parish Ministries

Christ the Redeemer has literally hundreds of ministries ranging from worship, to religious education, to outreach, and all kinds of things in between. These ministries are tied to and expressed in the Mission Statement of the parish:

“Founded in the good news of Christ that ‘God so loved the world that he gave [us] his only Son’ (Jn 3:16) and knowing that he [Christ] ‘come that we might have life – life in all fullness (Jn10:10) and rooted in Jesus’ command to ‘Love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 13:34), we the members of Christ the Redeemer Parish commit ourselves: 1) To foster an un understanding and sharing of Christ’s message; 2) To celebrate the glory of God in liturgy which recognizes our diversity and calls us to oneness in God’s presence; and 3) To challenge the faithful to respond to Christ’s call to meet the needs of all people with compassion and charity.

This mission statement, which appears of the front page of the bulletin each week, has been around for many years. It is the work of a past parish council and rooted both in the gospel and in the very identity of the Church itself. It is who we are and what we are about.

Opportunity and Invitation

At various times in the life of the parish there is the opportunity to consider who we are as a parish community and how we can express that in our life together. Christ the Redeemer is at one of those ministerial crossroads. With changes in personnel, with explosive growth in our geographic boundaries, and with many demographic changes, the shape of the Kingdom offers new configurations and new opportunities for us as a Pilgrim People. As often in the graced history of the Church, our parish is at a time of new blessings and challenges which shape our response to the Kingdom among us.

With the changes comes an invitation to discern the shape of our ministerial responses to the needs of the Kingdom. It is a time to look to who we are and how we can respond to God’s call in our life. The question is not necessarily what I need from the Church or parish as local community, but to what am I called and how can I share with my brothers and sisters in living out the gospel together. How can I bring the gospel where it needs to be heard?

The CTR staff has been wrestling with these kinds of questions for us as staff and thinking about the shape of the various ministries in our community. Many sessions have gone into what are our needs, what is our call through these needs, and how can we invite the whole parish to new dimensions of ministry in the parish.

You will be hearing more about these things in the future. Some needs and areas to think about might include:

various liturgical ministries: reader, eucharistic minister, choir, servers, ushers, planners and coordinators

religious formation for adults and children: on the primary level, junior and senior high school, welcoming new adults to the Church

sacramental preparation: baptismal preparation of parents, initiation of older children and young people, initiation of adults

marriage preparation for couples, family life concerns

teaching and forming other parishioners in the faith, scripture sharing

ESL (English as a Second Language), Hispanic and multicultural ministry

outreach and social service, LINK

Think and pray about your talents. Look at the needs of the Church on the way to the Kingdom. Be ready to respond to the call to serve.

CDH