A friend writes in a book that his experience of the work of ministers can be best described as “hatching” (baptisms), “matching” (weddings), and “dispatching” (burials). 

Of course this is an over-simplification of what is really involved in the ministry, although in some cases this is quite true. 

We must argue for a more diversified understanding of the ministry that goes beyond the pastoral ministry. 

We talk about the ministry as inclusive of various possibilities such as the ministry among people in hospitals, people who have sought refuge and asylum in our country and students in tertiary education. However, the church are yet to be bold enough to set in place an environment that will enable these aspects of the ministry to be
operational.

Of course the difficulty here is that there’s a need for financial resources to be able to effectively engage in the ministry in this way.

Through this, the  ministry will recognise and affirm the gifts of lay people and this is a way that churches seek to validate the gifts of lay people and affirm them to lead the church in a particular area. Such a ministry may include a ministry with children, women, youth, counselling and community development/organisation.

For people to effectively exercise their gifts in the ministry, the church has to have resources  to capacitate them. 

Whilst it is fine to expect people to volunteer their time and resources in the ministry, the church should not find itself in a situation where it continues to expect people to serve the church without being acknowledged and incentivized.

The call for transforming the ministry unites the church to encourage the ministers to study and be equipped for the multifaceted challenges of the ministry today. Through continuing learning programmes the church will seek to develop a cadre of ministers who are up to the challenge that confronts us today. 

However, it must be said that these challenges will not be met necessarily by fanciful degrees, but by skills acquisition that enable us to deal with specific problems. There is a need for leadership that is equipped in issues of justice, counselling, mediation, community organisation and advocacy work. Unless we have these skills the church ministry will continue to be maintenance focused and not innovative and risk-taking. Transformative leaders are never satisfied with the status quo.  

They see possibilities of changing things for the better.  They believe in both social and ecclesial change.  

These are the type of leaders that our church and society needs. The call to transformation is also to make us develop a movement of people who follow Jesus with a passion, confidence and humility. The church has to invest in programmes that enable people to experience the joy of following Jesus of Nazareth. 

The church must invest in processes such as leadership, social justice and others which seek to equip Christians for service and transformational work in our churches and communities.

In conclusion, the church cannot do mission and ministry as though it is business as usual. The church is called to transform for it to be an effective instrument for God’s mission in SADC. This is a responsibility which must be taken seriously. 

Jim Wallis in his book, Seven Ways to Change the World:  Reviving Faith and Politics, notes that “Two of the greatest hungers in the world today are the hunger for spirituality and the hunger for social justice”