Neighborhood Ministries

Ministry to members-B  The minister must be free to concentrate extensive time to members going through trials. However, the pastor is often so tied up in administrative duties that he has little contact with members and is not aware of members who are going through trials. The church should seek to limit the time required for the pastor in administrative duties to free him to minister to members and train help. Most pastors don’t get to spend much time actually visiting and ministering to their members and even working full time, the pastor cannot adequately supervise and minister to a church of more than 150-200 members. However, most pastors aren’t trained to do such work, even if they have time. There is too much need for the pastor to be able to do it all himself. Some churches are hiring nurses and Social Workers as part of their pastoral staff to provide medical care and Social Services to their members. At the very least, the pastor should know the nurses and Social Workers in his congregation and consult them as needed. Pastors need to train lay leaders to help them carry on their ministry when the church becomes too large for them to do it adequately themselves. The best method is to have each lay leader oversee a small group that is like a family, who he nurtures and ministers to the members under the pastor’s supervision similar to how it was done in the early church. Such small group ministry is proving just as effective today as it was in the early church, however few churches utilize it.-(See “The Living Presence” in “Rebuilding the Kingdom” copyright 2012)