Fifty Lessons in Ministry

On 10 October 2020 I shall celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination to Christian ministry. As I reflected on this milestone, I felt God encouraging me to use this anniversary as an opportunity to share some of the lessons I have learnt over my lifetime of ministry.

So with the blessing of the EBA regional team I arranged to hold a day conference in Chelmsford. Then Covid-19 struck! So instead, I am inviting you to a one hour Zoom conference on Wednesday morning 7 October at 10.30 a.m.: after the initial welcome I will give a 20 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of discussion; then a further 20 minute presentation followed by further discussion. Participants are encouraged to log in from 10.20 a.m. To book a place and receive the Zoom details please email paulbeasleymurray@gmail.com

To those who register with me by email for this free event, I will send nearer the time the Zoom link. Furthermore, out of gratitude to God for all his goodness to me, I will to send to participants who supply their postal address a complimentary copy of Fifty Lessons in Ministry: Reflections after Fifty Years of Ministry – this is due to be published by Darton, Longman & Todd in September at £12.99.

Lessons learnt include:

1. A multi-cultural church is a sign of the kingdom. Difference and diversity in the church are not always easy to handle – it is easy to misunderstand one another. We need to affirm those who feel of less value than others, and where necessary practice positive discrimination.
2. Names are important for people are important: for to greet people by name shows that they count. It is not enough to say on a Sunday morning, ‘Hi, how are you?’. Superficiality may be sufficient in the everyday world, but not amongst God’s people
3. People need to be affirmed constantly. When ministers publicly praise members of their congregation for their achievement, rather than themselves take the credit for what has happened, there is always a large base of willing volunteers.
4. Funerals are multi-facetted. They are more than a celebration of a life; people need to grieve. They also provide an opportunity to speak of the difference Jesus makes to living and to dying, and to minister the grace of God to those who mourn.
5. Leadership demands passion. Passion gives leaders energy and attracts people to follow their lead. Passion is deeper than enthusiasm, for it is cruciform in shape. Vision gives direction to passion – passion motivates vision. The two are inseparably intertwined.
6. Every church is different and has its own distinctive DNA. Something that has been tried and tested in one situation with good effect may not be appropriate in another situation. God is not in the business of cloning – and rightly so. This does not mean to say that ministers and churches cannot learn from one another. However, good ideas always need to be ‘adapted’ rather than adopted.
7. Annual reviews are to be welcomed. First and foremost they are a time for affirmation, but also provide a safe environment for the sharing of pressures and for the discussing of problems; they give an opportunity to identify training needs and to rewrite job descriptions. The presence of an outside facilitator is vital.
8. Never give up! Perseverance is a key virtue in ministry. I love the example of William Carey who toward the end of his life said: “I can plod. This is my only genius. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”

To whet your appetite let me end with some commendations:

• Going the distance in ministry is the lifetime challenge for everyone who is called to expound God’s Word and pastor God’s People. Paul Beasley Murray has poured fifty years of his fruitful ministry experiences into this book and it provides wisdom, insight and practical encouragement for all engaged in the marathon of ministry. (David Coffey, Past President of the Baptist World Alliance)
• This is vintage Beasley-Murray — accessible, passionate, full of wisdom about Christian ministry, and just occasionally, controversial. This is about ministry as it has been practiced over many years, and is not ashamed to reinforce the necessity of some practices that are in danger of being lost, such as pastoral visiting or careful preparation for worship by the minister (and not just delegated to the ‘worship leader’.) For those embarking upon a life-time of ministry, this will help shape them for the tasks ahead, while for some of us with a few decades of ministry under our belts, it reminds us of what must not be lost, either in the rush to be ‘relevant’ or contemporary, or in the forgetfulness of retirement. Whether it is in commending the need to end a sermon well, or the vital necessity of a disciplined life of Scripture reading and personal prayer, Paul Beasley-Murray offers sound advice derived from personal experience. (Paul Goodliff. Gen Sec., Churches Together in England)
• Paul’s experience is very different from my own – he is male, married, has always been in ministry and has served long pastorates in large churches – yet the topics he identifies and explores resonate strongly with my own experience, even when, sometimes, and shaped by our unique stories, we might differ in our reflection upon, and response to, them. Undergirded by extensive, up-to-date research and reading, this volume draws on a lifetime of experience and has much to offer other ministers as they reflect on their own stories and spheres of service. (Catriona Gorton, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow)
• As an intern training for ministry I frequently argued with Paul about many of the principles and practices he outlines here. Once I had a bit more experience, I came to the conclusion that, in most cases, he had been right all along. I went into local church ministry with a set of very sound principles which have helped me time and again. Emma Nash, accredited Baptist evangelist seconded to the Methodist Church’s Evangelism and Growth Team)
• John Henry Newman famously said that to grow is to change, and to have become perfect is to have changed often. Paul Beasley-Murray may not be perfect, but he has changed; and he is gloriously open to change. It is this constant learning and probing that makes his reflections on a lifetime of ministry so encouraging and helpful. We need each other’s wisdom to expand the scope and vision of Christian ministry. These 50 lessons from 50 years of ministry are a very good place to start. (Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York).