The MAP Toolkit Cover Story

The image of a pastor carrying a bag of tools and walking to his new pastoral assignment has stayed since I got the vision of a ministry toolkit in 1992.

Of course, pastors were trained and assumed to be ready to preach, organise and lead the worship services, do pastoral care, conduct special ceremonies for funerals, dedications, anniversaries, weddings and other clerical matters.

How about the management of the institutional or organisational side of the church?

When I was a pastor in my 20s, fresh from the seminary, some of the questions that came when called to work in a 60-year-old congregation were:

• What should I do first?
• How will I lead the church leaders and members to appreciate and participate actively in the ministry?
• What planning method works effectively for the church?

If you’re a pastor or a church leader reading this blog, what were your questions when starting your pastoral or ministry assignment?

How confident were you?

Were you grappling with resources to use, researching and studying what would be the best tool to apply to your new pastorate?

The need for a toolkit

If the doctor uses standard instruments in his practice (e.g. stethoscope), then what are the pastor’s common tools to use in ministry?

Or if the auto mechanic has some practical tools for checking the car engine, what does the pastor have?

Maybe some would say the usual ready answer: the Bible, commentaries, dictionaries, and other related literature.

Let me ask you, “Have you ever seen the doctor using his medical book while examining a patient, or have you seen an auto mechanic holding his “How to repair” book to check your car?

Of course, the doctor and the auto mechanic have their toolkits.

Have you encountered a ministry toolkit that functions like the diagnostic tools that a GP or a mechanic uses?

Regardless of who comes to see the doctor, young and old, Kiwi or non-Kiwi, he uses the same tools.

The same is valid with the mechanic. He might have some specific tools for a particular car model, but the essential tools are the same for every vehicle.

That’s the Ministry Appreciation and Participation Toolkit.

Yes, it’s a toolkit that a pastor or a ministry leader carries and uses on his ministry assignment, just like the image above.

IMAGE DESIGN: Barbi Larkins Art & Design