My Understanding of My Call to Ministry as a Commissioned Minister in the United Church of Christ
Recently, I invited my friends to be with me during an Ecclesiastical Council where I will be examined by the Eastern Association of the Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ. As I talk with people outside the United Church of Christ, they wonder just exactly what I am doing. I explain that I am being examined by a group of individuals who represent a part of the United Church of Christ who will determine if I should be authorized for ministry as a Commissioned Minister. That usually gets me a,”Huh? What does that mean?”
When people think of someone becoming a “minister,” they usually think of someone being a pastor or a priest; someone who leads a congregation, preaches, teaches, does weddings and funerals, offers communion, and cares for people’s spiritual needs. While this does describe a minister, it describes what most denominations would refer to as an Ordained Minister. According to the Constitution and Bylaws of the United Church of Christ, there are three forms of ministry that require authorization: Commissioning, Licensing and Ordination. Each of these recognize that God calls certain members of the United Church of Christ to various forms of ministry in and on behalf of the church for which ecclesiastical authorization is required.
An Ordained Minister of the United Church of Christ is someone called by God and ordained “to preach and teach the gospel, to administer the sacraments and rites of the Church, and to exercise pastoral care and leadership.” This authorization of ministry is the one most people think of when they hear “minister.” This is not where I believe I have been called; at least not now. I say that because one thing I have learned in this whole discernment process is that you must allow yourself and your community the freedom to discern your call without trying to define it or put boundaries around it.
A Licensed Minister is someone whom God has called and who has been recognized and authorized by an Association to perform specified duties in a designated local church or within that Association, mainly preaching and conducting services of worship, for a designated time within a covenant of mutual accountability that includes appropriate supervision and guidance of that Association. The license may be renewed. This is different from Ordination in that the authorization for ministry is specific to the ministry that person has been called. When they leave that specific ministry, they no longer have authorization and would need to seek authorization for a new ministry. Additionally, this authorization must be renewed annually.
Commissioned Ministry is a very different calling within the United Church of Christ. Some denominations, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for example, view commissioned ministry the same as licensed ministry. this makes it all very confusing to anyone from outside of the denomination, and many within the denomination as well. The Constitution and Bylaws of the United Church of Christ state,
“26 Commissioning is the act whereby the United Church of Christ through an Association, in cooperation with a person and a Local Church of the United Church of Christ, recognizes and authorizes that member whom God has called to a specific church-related ministry which is recognized by that Association, but not requiring ordination or licensing. By this act the status of Commissioned Minister is conferred and authorization granted to perform duties necessary to and for the specific ministry, and voting membership in that Association is granted.
27 A Commissioned Minister in the United Church of Christ is one of its members who has been called by God and commissioned for a specific church-related ministry.”
Commissioned Ministers are lay persons authorized to minister on behalf of the United Church of Christ in specific ministries that “are vital for the faith formation, continued spiritual growth, and empowerment of the children, youth, and adults of our local churches to live as a people of faith in an ever-more-volatile society and are undertaken on behalf of the entire United Church of Christ.” According to the Manual on Ministry, Commissioned Ministry is a ministry that does not require ordination or licensing, is vocational (there is a sense of call to the ministry), and is a church-related ministry (carried out on behalf of a local congregation or another setting of the United Church of Christ).
Tomorrow, I will be considered for authorization as a Commissioned Minister for Finance, Administration and Communication. You might wonder why someone would need special authorization to work in areas of finance, administration or communication. There are many people who do this very type of work in businesses and non-profits all over the world. Some people have even asked me, “isn’t that what you already do? If you are already doing those things, why do you need some special ‘authorization’?” These are all important and valid questions.
First, the United Church of Christ recognized that all people in the church are called to ministry. The Constitution and Bylaws state:
The United Church of Christ recognizes that God calls the whole Church and every member to participate in and extend the ministry of Jesus Christ by witnessing to the Gospel in church and society. The United Church of Christ recognizes that God calls the whole Church and every member to participate in and extend the ministry of Jesus Christ by witnessing to the Gospel in church and society
Each and every member of the church has the privilege and responsibility to participate in the ministry of the church. We have all been given gifts, talents and passions that are intended to be used to demonstrate God’s love and the ministry of Jesus Christ in and to the world through the church. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 teaches us that there are different gifts, different ways of serving, and different activities but all of these come from the same Spirit and that each of these gifts are given to provide for the common good of the community.
Second, we must understand what it means to be “called.” Barbara Brown Zikmund wrote about this for Theology and Identity; Traditions, Movements and Polity in the United Church of Christ. Her chapter was entitled Empowerment and Embodiment; Understanding of Ministry in the United Church of Christ. In this writing, Zikmund reflects on the historical understandings of what it meant to be called into ordination by the antecedent denominations (those who eventually joined together to form the United Church of Christ) and how the United Church of Christ tried to synthesize the two understandings. Although this writing specifically addresses ordination, I believe the same is true of all forms of ministry that require authorization. Zikmund explains that the church, in recognition that we are all called to ministry, has downplayed authorization of ministry as being special. The authorization is simply a calling forth of someone from within the members to lead. This is empowerment. On the other hand, the church recognizes that God has blessed some with special gifts to enrich the church. This is embodiment.
Early in my faith journey, I sensed God was calling me to ministry. Over time, I discerned, with the help of various communities along the way, my gifts were in areas of leadership, administration and evangelism. This understanding of my call was very clear and is what pulled me along in my journey to eventually take the position I now have. I believed God had embodied me with special skills, talents and passions to serve the Church. After growing in my understanding of Congregationalism and discerning that God chooses to bless us by working through us as a community rather than simply as individuals, I began to understand that we as a community call forth individuals to lead. We empower people to perform ministry. This understanding wasn’t exactly clear to me until I read this writing of Zikmund.
When I learned about the form of ministry called “commissioned ministry” and read the definition and purpose, I immediately said, “that is me!” That is exactly the type of ministry to which I have been called. As I read the Constitution and Bylaws of the United Church of Christ and the Manual on Ministry, I realized that calling is both being embodied with gifts, talents, passions and skills that God wants us to utilize in service of the Church and an empowerment by the community to serve the Church in a special way, ”on behalf of the whole United Church of Christ.” This is when I began preparing for the discernment process.
What makes me different from an administrator in a business? What about me needs to be authorized? Why do I believe I have been called by God and why do I want my community to call me? I believe God has given me special gifts, passions, talents and skills to be utilized in service to the Church. I believe these skills are desperately needed in the Church. I believe that the utilization of these gifts, passions, talents and skills are more than just professional services I offer; they are a ministry. I am being considered for authorization as a Commissioned Minister for Finance, Administration and Communication. Behind those business sounding terms are a calling to be a steward, a shepherd and an evangelist. God has blessed me with the gifts of administration, leadership and evangelism. God has given me the desire to utilize these gifts to serve the body of Christ, to help support the mission and ministry of the Church. I now, in humility, recognizing that all I am is a gift from God, ask my community to empower me to serve Jesus Christ and the Church with those gifts, talents, skills and passions.
Some great resources about Commissioned Ministry:
Commissioned Ministry (a brief summary from Parish Life & Leadership)
Commissioned Ministry (a brochure from Parish Life & Leadership)
Commissioned Ministry recognizes specific calls of lay members to ministry (2003 article in UCNews)
Affirming The Essential Role of Commissioned Ministry as an Authorized Ministry of the United Church of Christ (resolution passed at General Synod 24)
Manual on Ministry, Section 6: Commissioned Ministry
