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Shared Ministry

The Concept:

At Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church we proclaim that every member is a minister. This proclamation is at the heart of the concept of shared ministry.

Google the phrase "shared ministry" and you will find 577,000 results! At Hennepin we focus on shared ministry as (1) a vision of "doing church" through the partnership of all laity and clergy; and (2) systems that flesh out that vision in effective and fulfilling ways.

Both the shared ministry vision and system are grounded in two theological assumptions:

  • All people are created by God with gifts for ministry. (Gifts are broadly defined to include one's personality, life experiences, strengths and weaknesses, passions, values, preferred ways of learning, working and interacting with others, etc.)
  • Christians are called by God to use those gifts to participate in God's ongoing creative and restoring activity in our communities and world. Both clergy (from the Greek "cleros" - those set aside for specific leadership roles in worship and teaching) and laity (from the Greek, "laos" - the people) receive this call to ministry.

The System:

This concept of shared ministry becomes manifest in systems and structures by which volunteer ministers, in concert with clergy ministers, discover and develop their gifts, are invited into and matched with ministry needs of the church, and are then supported, supervised, and affirmed in those ministries.

Hennepin already "does shared ministry" in many ways: For example,

  • Hundreds of us share our gifts and understand our service as our ministry.
  • Position descriptions exist for most boards and committees, and the Lay Leadership committee works hard to match leadership gifts of individuals with those committee needs.
  • The Lay Ministry Committee has published pamphlets describing ministry opportunities throughout the church. These pamphlets are available for members and distributed at prospective member classes.
  • As part of their installation service, new members are invited to indicate which ministry they'd like to explore.
  • Many ministry leaders (e.g. Dignity Center, Trustees, Community Meals, Steeple People) provide training, support, and recognition of the volunteers working with them.
  • Lay persons share their gifts in vital worship services through music, lay speaking, greeting, ushering, lectionary reading, etc.

Shared Ministry Task Force

A Shared Ministry Task Force was created in 2009 to review, re-vision, revitalize and re-systematize coordination of volunteer ministries and ministers at Hennepin. The effort is being underwritten by a grant from the Hennepin Foundation. Current members of the task force are Linda Blaisdell, Glenna Dibrell, Bill Tipping, Tom Arneson, Kristyn Ebert Johnson, and Sally Johnson. The projects of the task force include:

  • Working with church consultant Judy Urban to review our current systems and plan for the future
  • Presentation of a workshop on shared ministry at the Administrative Council retreat in February
  • Planning and carrying out a Celebration of Ministry on Pentecost Sunday
  • Undertaking a comprehensive all-ministry recruitment campaign for the 2010 Lenten season
  • Reviewing and refining our current data base system for volunteers and exploring new options
  • Continuing to publicize opportunities for ministry and to match persons' gifts to those opportunities.

Opportunities for Ministry:

Listed below are links to many of the volunteer opportunities at Hennepin Church.

If you would like to explore any of these further, or if you have interests that are not included in any of the lists, please contact Kristyn Ebert Johnson, Director of Outreach and Volunteerism at 612-435-1305 or here