Calling Reflection
I've been taking time to reflect on my calling - 13 years on.  My calling was to lead people into the Bible, so that they might meet God there, specifically Jesus Christ, and genuinely commit to follow Him all the days of their lives.  On reflection, that is still a tight and clean definition of my calling.

How has that calling been lived out over the years?  In a few different ways.  There have been plenty of relational responses outside of the formally-organized church.  However, in terms of time and energy spent, stepping into church-based pastoral ministry has been my main response.  2 years at Windham Faith Community and coming up on 10 years at Londonderry/Journey Church: 11 years in all as a licensed minister: 'Reverend'.  It's a good time to reflect.

My sense of fulfilling my calling, personal pleasure and satisfaction are most clearly achieved when I'm doing two things:
1) leading a small group or perhaps just one or two people in Bible study and mentoring./discipleship.  In other words, deep commitment to a limited number of people.
2) leading a church in the role of a 'missional architect' by which I mean forming a culture of Christlikeness and organizational leadership.

In my pastoral life at Journey Church I think there has been a very little of the first and a gradually increasing amount of the second.  I would estimate that perhaps 30 percent of my ministry time is engaged in these activities.  The rest is doing pastoral stuff that I enjoy ... less.

Of course in any job, vocation, or human enterprise there are tasks you have to do in able to provide for the tasks you want to do. The question then becomes - is there a better way?  Perhaps a more theologically sound way to reframe that question is:  Father - is this still the way?

I am going to take more time to consider this.  As I return to Journey Church on December 11th, I want to reshape my role to emphasize meeting my calling.  This isn't selfish - although it might be read that way,  It's trusting that God knows what He is doing.  After all, it's his church.

Jesus spent most of His time with the three, and massive time with the twelve.  He spent significant time with the seventy, and very little time with stubborn, un-trainable, self-directed people.  His public time was used almost entirely in declaring the Kingdom and describing what it is like (culture building).

I'm thinking Jesus might be a good ministry model for me.