Published on: 03/02/2026
At the beginning of a new calendar year you hear lots of people sharing their good intentions for the months ahead of them. New Year’s resolutions seem to provide some people with a boost of motivation; the extra kick they need to go back to the gym or drink more water or read more books.
In ministry it is a good idea to periodically step back and invite the Holy Spirit to examine your intentions and motivations. To prayerfully ask the question – why am I doing this? Is it because I feel a sense of call? Is it out of duty? Is it because no-one else is doing it? Do I do it in order to please others? Or to try and please God? Your motivations could be some or all of these, and more. These aren’t necessarily wrong motivations, but it is important to become aware of your motivations and invite God into them afresh, asking him to help you to set your heart on Him alone and for the other things to fall into line behind that.
In our team one of the main things that motivates us is a desire for all of the baptised people of God to shine as lights for Christ in the world, and to discover how God is calling them to serve in His world and His church. As a Diocese we value collaborative ministry between lay ministers and ordained ministers, and my role is to facilitate some of that collaboration by raising up and training lay ministers.
A wise person told me once that you can tell what you value by looking at two things: your bank statement and your calendar. How you spend your money and your time reveals something of your values, so we’re putting time and money into identifying, training and supporting a variety of lay ministry roles in the Diocese. We’ll shortly be producing a new leaflet which will outline all of these roles and let you know the options available for lay training here.
As you consider your motivations for the ministry that you do (or that you’re wondering about stepping into), why don’t you also think about what your values are? For example, maybe you particularly value hospitality and welcome, or teamwork, or a multigenerational approach to ministry, or remembering people’s names. All of these things are good of course, but maybe there are some things that are especially important to you and will inform how you go about your ministry and service. When your values and motivations align with what you do, it’s a wonderful feeling. You’re serving God, doing the thing he made you to, in a way that suits you and communicates what you value; and contributes to the health of the church. That is what it is like to be part of a body. And a body needs all of its parts.
Who can you pray for or encourage in their ministry today? Or who can you encourage to take a step forward towards finding their place in the body?
This week’s Blog post was written by Beth Burras, Lead Lay Ministry Enabler