All Christians are to engage in not only mission but also ministry. Thus ministry is simply the outworking of their missional calling in all areas of life. Ministry is not the privilege of a small elite group of people, but for every disciple of Jesus Christ. Noticed that I did not say that all Christians are called to ‘the ministry’, but to ministry, diakonia, that is service. We do a great disservice to the biblical understanding of Christianity whenever we refer to the pas

Mark 2:21-23 reads: 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” Let me suggest that this new and changing world we now live in demands new wineskins. It will not be good enough simply to pour the n

In Jesus’ life, mission and ministry there is a clear emphasis on the pattern of servant and relational leadership. The servant and relational pattern produces fruitfulness, while the absence of the servant and relational pattern leads to the tragedy of fruitlessness and at times abuse. All pastoral responsibilities in mission and ministry should be based on and patterned after this servanthood model and be highly relational in character. Genuine pastoral leadership avoids th