What Does It Mean to be a "Minister"?

Hint: You Are One.

{Photo by Kshitiz Tiwari for Scopio}

For as long as I remember, I’ve believed in the “priesthood of all believers.” By this, I mean the belief that—if willing—we’re all ministers. Different people may be called to different, specific roles, and some of these may involve formal tasks traditionally deemed “ministry.” But being in ministry is vastly more than these traditional roles.

So what is ministry?

Let’s start with the fact that each of us has talents from God—an assumption I hold. When we use our gifts to contribute something beneficial to the world, we are doing ministry. So a minister might be a chaplain or a pastor, but a minister might also be a mechanic, or a hairdresser. A doctor or a leader of a non-profit. A parent or a drummer. A college professor or a designer. A cook or a gardener or a tour guide. Really, all talents are given to us to benefit the world in some way. And none of us need put our gifts aside so we can get on and “do the work of ministry.” When we use our talents to enhance the world, we are ministers.

On the other hand, while I allow this to be true for others, I struggle to let this be true for myself. Can you relate? For example, many of my personal gifts and talents buzz around the hive of “arts.” I write poetry and other creative writing and I create visual art. Yet my brain has resisted calling any of these things “ministry.” Honestly, I continue to work at—struggle with—incorporating arts into my self-identity as minister.

This is especially true of my work as poet. No doubt about it, I would hate to live in a world without poets. And I have been ministered to by poets as much as by anyone with “reverend” in their title. So I’m working at incorporating “poet” into my self-understanding as minister. Poets have a particular way of describing the essence of things, describing what’s true; whether the essence of an experience—say, a loss of confidence—or the essence of light on a frosty morning.

Below I share a recently published poem about an experience while trying to view this sharing as ministry. Likewise, I hope you will, this week, approach the use of your gifts as doing ministry. How does this change the way you view your life?

__________

Michoacan

After years, I anoint you,
holy oil righting wrongs
so all I see is the gold 

my touch turns you into. 
In that colonial, alchemical city, 
as we rest beside a fountain,
weary of gilt cathedrals and

jacarandas’ purple flares
on late-Lent sky.
Your gorgeous head on my lap,

striking as a mass of bougainvillea; 
heart-stirred into the next day. 
Ferry boat and serenade—
old man and beat-up guitar; 

you and I are an attractant, caught 
like ghosts at a séance, 
laughing, testing our miracles 
before ascending the heights 

of that ancient island, stripped
to bare limbs and copper 
skin, until we can see 

for miles, 
but not 
what stands 
before us.  

©Tricia Gates Brown
{First published in Dulcet Literary Magazine, November 2024}

You can also read an interview of me with Dulcet Literary Magazine HERE.

If you liked this article please leave me a comment below, I am interested in your perspective.

Wren, winner of a 2022 Independent Publishers Award Bronze Medal

Winner of the 2022 Independent Publisher Awards Bronze Medal for Regional Fiction; Finalist for the 2022 National Indie Excellence Awards. (2021) Paperback publication of Wren , a novel. “Insightful novel tackles questions of parenthood, marriage, and friendship with finesse and empathy … with striking descriptions of Oregon topography.” —Kirkus Reviews (2018) Audiobook publication of Wren.