Matthew 9:35-10:8

Last month, Pastor Carey, Deacon Scott and I attended a course at the Waterloo Seminary on Collaborative Leadership. It was a pilot course from the “By Living Waters Ministry School, “which will open its doors formally in January. 

“The school will train lay ministers for the Eastern Synod and support pastors in empowering lay leaders through courses, coaching, workshops, and accessible resources.”

The preliminary trial course we took was a review of important issues 

in developing ways of working together, 

collaboratively in congregational leadership.

The future of the church will look very different in 20 years from now 

than the church we are familiar with from the past century.

As National Bishop Larry says, it used to be that 

churches were mostly clergy - led, lay supported, 

That is the pastors were up front, assisted by laity.But in the future we’ll see a lot more churches that are the opposite:lay-led and clergy-supported, esp in rural areas. 

So lay people will have much more prominent roles, 

assisted by clergy from the background.

We are seeing examples of this in Lunenburg County in Nova Scotia, where two pastors are serving 10 congregations. Lay people are being trained by the pastors 

to greater roles and responsibilities as each pastor cannot be in every congregation each Sunday.

Another trend that we see for example 

here at St. Matthews, is that important positions, which used to be volunteer, must now be performed by paid staff, 

as volunteer levels are decreasing, not only in churches, but across Western society.

What is certain,is that the future holds new opportunities and challenges for the running of churches, and that structures of leadership and positions will need to change.

In a way though this is nothing new. Even in our Gospel reading we see this happening:

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At first we hear about Jesus who was going about

all cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues, 

proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, 

and curing every disease, (having compassion for all! (V35)

He was very, very busy.

But this was not a sustainable model for ministry. 

Jesus was burning out.

The harvest was plentiful, 

but the laborers were few.

Jesus couldn’t do it all. 

He needed help.

(10:1) So he summoned 12 disciples, 

and gave them the authority and powers they needed to continue and extend his ministry,

He collaborated with them, 

taught them how to do ministry, and sent them out, two by two.

Now in this story, when we think about the labourers 

going into the harvest and the disciples, 

we usually think about professional clergy going out into ministry. People trained at seminary for // 4-5 years. They are the ones we think of are implied by this story.

But the future of church ministry, as many of us can see,

 s starting to look different. People coming into seminary are coming from all walks of life, 

with all different sorts of backgrounds,and congregations are being led in different ways than was the norm for the past 70 odd years.

Then again, this is also nothing new…if you go back into church history, back centuries, and even millennia to the early church,there are different ways of organizing and leading churches, and many of them look quite distinct from what we’re used to. 

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Especially in a church like St. Matthews, we have a history of a hierarchy engrained in the structure and architecture,think of Pastor Schmieder’s way of leading, and the corporate ways our congregation with its many sub-communities functioned.

Yet, as Lutherans, we hold fast to the idea of the Priesthood of all believers, that all Christians have a calling to ministry, and that clergy are not intrinsically on a higher or more important plane. Lay people are called to volunteer their time and gifts, to lead, serve, and learn, and to minister to others for the sake of God’s kingdom.

Rostered leaders, like pastors and deacons, are called to a specific ministry, but the idea is that their role needs to be less front and centre,

But more in a supporting and developing role,

Clergy will be more like coaches for laypeople, helping them discern their leadership skills, discover their vocation, and empower them for ministry in their local context.

Kind of like what Jesus did, when he sent out his 12 disciples:he prayed for them, called them, empowered and trained them, and then sent them out to do God’s work.

So what is Collaborative ministry?

It is a way of doing ministry by working together for better results,

There is a strategic choice to cooperate.

From the get-go, you say “let’s do this together”.

This can take various forms, from congregations sharing a pastor to collaborating on projects.

For me, collaborative ministry can work well if it is more fun, and less work.If I enjoy working with the people on a project, and I look back and say that the overall result was better, and it hopefully took less time and effort than doing it on my own, then it was a good way of doing it.

We have quite a number of collaborative ministries going on currently:

-There is a Lay lutheran leadership group, where Council Chairs and lay leaders from various Lutheran churches in Kitchener are coming together to discuss synergies.

-We have the monthly church breakfast group, (which used to be called the St. Peter’s Men’s breakfast group), which hosts a guest speaker and opportunity for fellowship between members of local Lutheran congregations.

-For 3 years now, our joint Lenten Series has been running, where we alternate churches hosting and preaching at our mid-week Lenten services, which means more variety and less work to plan.

-Our Feather and Cross programme is a collaborative ministry funded by the Synod and a handful of local churches that focusses on indigenous reconciliation and education.

-Our community hub is collaborative in that it reaches out into the community, gathering groups in this building. Together we are stronger, as the groups have space and we gain income to fund our congregation’s needs.

Another big part of collaborative ministry is equipping lay people to serve. 

Not only teaching the practical skills like how to set the altar for communion, 

but also the underlying spiritual foundation.

Many church volunteers are so busy doing church tasks, keeping the system going, that they forget the “why”. 

Why am I so busy doing church work? 

What is the real reason I’m here so often?

And so we did the Revive programme, 

which went back to the basics of spiritual practices, 

prayer styles, ways of reading the Bible and living the faith.

We also have Book and Bible study and congregational retreats 

which help grow our faith, 

the main reason we are members of a church.

Because esp. in a large church like St. Matthews, 

there are unlimited tasks:

the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,

But we can’t forget the reason we have a church, 

It’s not to keep the doors open, or to balance the budget,

But to follow Jesus and to invite others to follow him as well.

Because ultimately, just like for the disciples, Jesus calls, heals and sends us!

While the 12 were instructed to “Cure the sick; raise the dead; cast out demons”,

Our tasks today are a little different, but still related.

We are called to

"Proclaim the kingdom, care for the hurting, 

welcome the excluded, bring hope to the hopeless, confront evil, and serve generously.”

This can happen through teaching Sunday School, inviting friends to worship, 

by including people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals in congregational life,by bringing meals to those recovering from illness, Jesus mission can be lived out

by calling people you know are lonely,by standing against injustice, abuse, and exploitation,

And of course volunteering time in our various groups and at events.

—

Like for the 12 disciples, Jesus speaks and acts through us as we do his work,

We are called to share God's love as a gift.

This is often difficult work, but we don’t do it alone,

Because we have each other as community,

And Pastor Carey, Deacon Scott and I are here to support and encourage you as disciples of Jesus at St. Matthews,

To help live out your vocation, explore your passion for mission and ministry,

And to connect the dots from the various tasks to the Kingdom of Heaven which is unfolding in our midst.

Volunteers and paid, lay and clergy, our varied gifts united by Christ,

we give thanks to God for being sent into the harvest.

*Hymn of the Day 576 “We All Are One in Mission”