I won't be able to say a lot right now about my visit here in Pittsburgh. Although my visits were not as intense as my visits in England, I experienced a lot that I will need to reflect on in the future. Besides, the Rangers game is going to start in just a few minutes.
But I do want to introduce a term I have heard constantly ever since I began meeting people here. It is a form of sharing ministry that is called "Cooperative Ministry."
Cooperative Ministry has a lot in common with the type of ministry going on in Britain, but there also seems to be something about it that is different about this way of doing ministry. That's why I need time to process it.
Simply put, "Cooperative Ministry" describes the way clergy serve together as a team by providing leadership for a group of congregations who are willing to enter into a "contract" with one another that requires them to cooperate with one another so that together they can accomplish much more than they could ever hope to accomplish on an individual congregation basis.
But Cooperative Ministry is more than just an agreement or contract between different parties. There are very specific expectations that the pastors and the congregations share in relation to one another. Their joint ministry relies upon the willingness of pastors and congregations to make a commitment to one another that will enable them to be there for each other for the sake of God's mission and to put aside personal priorities and agendas for a common good.
I will say more about this in the future.
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