Following on from our blog post: Feed them yourselves!
A more personal story...
When I was very new to ministry, in my very first pastorate, just a year or two into the job, didn't really know what I was doing or how to be a minister in a complicated world, I was sitting in my study dreaming up shcemes and plans that I knew would probably come to nothing when I got a phone call. It was the wife of a very prominent church member. He was one of those church members who is a key pillar in so many of the things that the church does and it was difficult to think of much that the church did without his face in the picture. She had just found him in the garden shed. He had taken his own life. Would I come round? yes - of course I would. But as I put the phone down I knew like I had never known it before that io had nothing to offer - no magic words or prayers that would make this any better - nothing. I had no time to think or read a knowledgeable book on responding to suicide - she only lived down the road and I had said I'd go. So I went. And in the few moments I had as I walked down the street, I prayed.. Lord, I have very little to offer here except my presence. I am going to have to trust you to fill in the gaps. And maybe I shouldn't have been surprised - but God DID fill in the gaps (huge, aching gaps as they were.) God calls us to offer what we have. God will not accept that we have nothing! That's a constant challenge to me, but I often look back on this incident when I need a reminder of what our calling is. Has anything liike this every happened for you? Tell us about it! Or if you want to talk something through, contact us .
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