Back in 1990 Greg Ogden (www.gregogden.com) wrote The New Reformation – Returning the Ministry to the People of God and in 2003 followed up with Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministry to the People of God. Both books championed the empowerment of the laity (non-paid staff) doing ministry that for years was done by clergy (paid staff).  My own understanding of what God desires for all of His people to DO as ministers of the gospel was greatly enhanced by Greg’s two books.

The Observation

Have you ever wanted to believe something was true, but you just weren’t sure the evidence would truly back-up your belief?  Over the past 13 years I wanted to believe we were seeing trends that laity (nonpaid staff) were being empowered to do the ministry.  But I wasn’t convinced that what was taking place was more information and knowledge being dumped on God’s people with little empowerment truly being given to them.

Returning Ministry to the People

I have realized that ministry is being returned to the people of God by looking at a trend within our ministry.  Let me explain.  Almost ten years ago I remember how excited I was to work with a group of lay members (all unpaid) of a large church that were empowered to research for resources that would connect their people to meaningful ministry.  After several months of conference calls and emails I was invited to spend the weekend training their lay leadership along with the paid staff.  My first interaction with paid staff was the weekend I spent at the church.  Prior to that weekend every interaction I had was with non-paid staff.  I was elated to work with this group.  This up front interaction with non-paid staff in this manner was a rarity until the last couple of years.

The Positive Trend

PLACE Ministries receives thousands of orders for resources and inquiries for information about our ministry each year.  Until the last couple of years we guessed that 95% or more of those orders and inquiries would come from paid staff.  Over the last couple of years we have seen the trend rising with our guess being that 25-30% of our orders and inquiries are being made by non-paid staff on behalf on their churches.

So many trends in church today are not positive.  This positive trend of empowering non-paid staff to connect God’s people to meaningful ministry is one  we can and should all celebrate and embrace.

Tags: church, church leadership, Church Ministries, ministry

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