Carrying Light

Each week in worship, candles hold a presence in the chancel of the church: taper candles are lit on the Lord’s Table and the Christ candle is lit by the pulpit. Just behind the candles, without fail, there are beautiful arrangements of flowers. 

Our Deacons are faithful in the weekly candle lighting. They don’t miss it because it is much more than something we “do”, it is the reminder in worship that it is something we “carry”.  As we depart from weddings, funerals and weekly worship, we are reminded that we carry the light of hospitality from Christ’s table out into the world. No less important, we carry Christ’s light as we seek to deepen our understanding of all people in God’s world. 

Ministry on Monday -- and each day of the week -- involves strengthening the church family to glow-up the world around them. This is often done in acts known as pastoral care. Such a term is a little misleading as if the care is something that a pastor does for the parishioner. In fact, there is a deep interdependence between parishioner and pastor that allows pastoral care to emerge. 

What may be experienced as pastoral care begins as a clue from a congregant – a fellow priest in the priesthood of all believers. The clue arrives as a sort of hint, from and into various levels of awareness that genuinely catch the attention of pastor or congregational leader. Now, to be sure, over-instruction to one another is always a part of Sunday mornings, but I’m speaking here of something that is less a lecture and more something “left.” Something that has a life of its own. The clue (a word, a glance or shift in posture), once discovered, is so compelling, that its presence is not easily dismissed from the mind. At this point, the clue transforms to opportunity.

The pastor or congregational leader becomes alert for right timing and the method to take up the opportunity. While no timing is perfect, there is a sort of locking-in between opportunity and spark-filled response. In this way, there is a congregational conduit of light. The result can be illumination far greater and longer lasting than any one individual could sustain. It is the act of sharing light that is ministry on Monday.