My Minister of Music/Youth is attending seminary to get his Master’s. He has to do an internship, and since we already employ him, he is doing it at our church. A small group of us has been asked to set some goals for him, to monitor his progress and to report back to the seminary with our observations.
Let me say first and foremost that he is a VERY talented vocalist and has raised the level of worship in our regular service by leaps and bounds. He has also revitalized what was a flagging youth program into a dynamic ministry.
One of his goals that we are to work on is his handling of disappointment in ministry. Being human, he is naturally subject to thinking something has been a success or failure based upon how people react to it. I do not think that ministry necessarily works like that. I think he could organize a service that really strikes a nerve with the congregation, and could get heat for it, and THAT could be a successful ministry. Conversely I think he could arrange a fantastic musical piece that is superficiously beautiful that would gain praise, but is not necessarily a “success” as a ministry.
I suggest that a proof/theorem/postulate could be formed and applied universally to ministry to guage its success. It could read, “Ministry is __________. If this ministry _________-ed _________, then it was a success.”
This statement, when complete, would aid in determining if a ministry has acheived its goal wether the feedback or response was positive, negative or neutral.
Your input into what that statement could be is appreciated.