Coffee, a chat and a calling

In the first part of a new series, the Very Rev Dr Martin Fair highlights the role of encouragers in the birth of ministries.

ALMOST no one has heard of Aurélio Pereira. He had his own career as a footballer but in that, he was at best ‘average’ and certainly no young fans would have wanted his name printed on the back of their replica shirts.

But Pereira came into his own as a talent scout and as a youth coach. Of the squad of players who won the 2016 European Championships for Portugal, half of them had been discovered and nurtured by Pereira. And among them, the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo – without doubt, one of the greatest footballers ever to play the game.

It’s just possible that the football world would never have heard of Ronaldo had it not been for Pereira.

Could you play a part in discovering a new generation of those who might enter the various ministries of the Church, just as Pereira spotted and encouraged young footballers?

The Towards Ministry Team is responsible for walking with those who begin to discern even the faintest of senses that God might be calling them to one of our formal ministries – as readers, OLMs, Deacons, Ministers of Word and Sacrament. Of course, every Christian should understand themselves as being in ministry in the broadest sense but there have always been those who are called to specific roles and the Towards Ministry Team is there to support them in that process and ultimately as they are assessed and prepared for the exercising of these ministries. What a wonderfully exciting and privileged role the team has!

But one small team is hardly capable of being everywhere all of the time, that they might identify potential candidates – those who exhibit the necessary potential. Thankfully, in this the team is not alone. They have the entire membership of the Church of Scotland, set in every community across the country and beyond, well-placed to assist!

If you ask those already in a specific ministry role, almost all of them will tell of someone who drew alongside to prompt and encourage. This ‘someone’ might have been in the same congregation or have been a friend or a work colleague but their gift was to have spotted something and having done so, being bold enough to say, ‘Can I buy you a coffee? I’d love to have a chat with you. I think you might be someone that God could use in ministry.’

The importance of that conversation and of such an encourager cannot be overstated. Very naturally, many of those who begin to sense an inner ‘nudge’ regarding ministry find themselves both unsettled and unsure – and almost always reluctant to mention it to others. There’s a fear of being wrong about it; even a fear of being laughed at; a fear of not being up to it. The combination of those things leaves potential candidates replaying an inner audio track which tells them, ‘I couldn’t possibly be in ministry; why would God want someone like me?’

Into that uncertainty steps an encourager or, returning to the earlier metaphor, a talent scout. And what a difference that can make – just enough of a difference to persuade someone to think more deeply and even to pick up the phone and ask to be connected to the Towards Ministry Team.

You might not sense any specific calling to a ministry but might you be able to help someone else discern theirs?

The Very Rev Dr Martin Fair is Pathways to Ministry Manager with the Church of Scotland.