The Many Faces of Ministry

The many faces of ministry that we share with the world were shining brightly at the Southern Province Intersynodal Conference. Held March 25-27, 2004, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this event marked the second such gathering for the congregations of the Southern Province. Approved by the 1998 Synod, the conference provides an opportunity for the congregations of the Province to unite for a time of worship, sharing, and fellowship. The theme for this year’s conference was The Many Faces of Ministry. At the opening worship service the Rev. Dr. Robert E. Sawyer, PEC President, shared the hope, vision, and prayer that the “flame of mission” would be re-ignited by the coming days and would continue to burn brightly in the hearts of the participants as the ideas shared were carried back to the congregations of the Southern Province. The “flame of mission” was present through worship, by sharing of ideas and ministries, and in fellowship.

In many respects, the entire conference was an act of worship. From the formal worship times to the educational workshops to the informal times of fellowship, a spirit of praise and thanksgiving pervaded the conference. The participants in the conference, both lay leaders and clergy from across the province, were blessed by the many opportunities we had to lift our hearts, minds, and voices in worship. The opening worship service can best be described as a 21st century singstunde. Lifting our voices together, united in song, provided the basis for the service. Under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Graham Rights, the newly formed congregation (gathered for this conference) sang many hymns and songs of praise that reflected both our diversity and our commonality in our Lord and Savior. We ended our first night together united in worship and in anticipation of the days to come.

The next morning we picked up where we had left off the previous evening. Our morning worship service was focused on prayer. We joined together in a number of prayers, including the great prayer of intercession, our Church Litany. This time of prayer was enhanced by a meaningful and challenging meditation offered by the Rt. Rev. Lane Sapp. We ended our day together with another rich and powerful worship service. Under the leadership of the Rev. Sam Gray, the Gray family, and our sisters from the congregations in South Florida, the evening worship featured a joyful reminder of the diversity of the many faces of worship in our province. We joined together in a Caribbean Cornucopia of Choruses. Our voices were united by songs sung in English, Spanish, and Miskitu. We heard the Word shared simultaneously in four different languages. We ended our day with our hands joined in prayer as we asked God to make “all that we do and say and live be a witness, be a prayer, and be a celebration!”

Our last day together began with another singstunde. The Rev. Dr. Robert Sawyer led us in worship as we responded to God’s words to us by sharing our words to God through our songs. Our final act of worship together as a congregation was our closing Service of Holy Communion. The Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette called us to the table through a sermon that challenged us to remember why we were there: why we were at the conference, why we were in the church, why we were following the Savior. As we shared in the body and blood, we were reminded of what Christ had done for us and were renewed in our mission to share him with the world.

As brightly as the many faces of ministry were shining though our worship, they were also shining in our sharing and learning. The main speaker for the conference was Dr. George Hunter III. A well-known author and speaker in the field of church growth, Dr. Hunter challenged us through four different lectures on evangelism and church growth. He began by sharing with us the Celtic Recovery of Apostolic Ministry, which had many similarities with the ways the Moravians began the Protestant mission era. A second lecture, The Emergent Church in North America’s Mission Fields, examined the success of the “seeker church” in reaching the millions of North Americans who do not know Jesus. Dr. Hunter’s third lecture gave us a Re-Introduction to Invitational Evangelism. It stressed our role as ambassadors for Christ. The final lecture was about The Power of Contagious Faith. Using the biblical account of Ruth and Naomi, Dr., Hunter reminded us that it is often the power of our own faith that makes the difference in another’s life and faith.

In addition to learning from Dr. Hunter, we also had the opportunity to learn from each other. Each of the participants was given the chance to participate in three workshops. The seventeen workshops we had to choose from once again reminded us of the many faces of ministry in our province. Under the leadership of a wide variety of people, these workshops allowed us to share with each other the ways we do ministry in our own congregations and communities. We also learned of the many faces of ministry in the province through the Ministry Fair. A wide spectrum of different ministries of the congregations and agencies were put on display. The workshops and Ministry Fair provided the conference with a great picture of the diversity of ministry in the Southern Province.

What gathering of Moravians anywhere would be complete without fellowship? Responding to a challenge from Malissa Bumgarner, the chairperson of the Intersynodal Conference Committee, to sit with someone you don’t know, the participants of the conference took her words to heart. In many ways we formed a unique and diverse congregation over the days of the conference. We sang together (in many languages), laughed together (in many voices), prayed together (with many hearts), ate together (with many mouths), we simply enjoyed being together. We celebrated our common bonds as brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what things threaten to divide us, two things unite us: the love that Christ shares with us and the love that we share in Christ. This mutual love was at the center of our fellowship. It serves as a constant reminder of our motto: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, love.”

The Daily Texts reading for the final day of the conference served as an appropriate challenge for all who shared in the many faces of ministry that were discovered at this gathering. “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” (1 Samuel 17:37) and “Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.” (Mark 6:7) We came to the conference and the Lord was indeed with us. He was with us as we celebrated the many ways we share him with our world. As we left the conference, we felt the Lord was still with us. This time, like the Twelve, we were sent out united. We are united in mission, we are united in service, we are united in love. The Intersynodal Conference of the Southern Province showed that our many faces of ministry are a challenge, a call, and a cause. They are a challenge for us to be witnesses, they are a call for us to be in prayer, and they are a cause for us to celebrate!