What in the world is a “Signature Ministry”
If the announcements in church tell when the EYC, ECW, and DOK next meet, you shouldn’t be surprised if visitors are left wondering what is going on in your congregation. Insider language leaves others on the outside. The Diocese routinely talking about “Signature Ministries” could leave some wondering what we mean and why we don’t just mean what we say.
The term Signature Ministry, together with Signature Event, describe a way in which your congregation meets a felt need in your community with a response for which others in your area come to know your congregation. Some someone might ask about one of our three Episcopal Churches in Thomasville and be told, “Oh you know, that’s the church that is doing that Development Agency.” A Signature Ministry is something your congregation does that benefits mostly, or often exclusively, people who are not members of your church. Photo of Project Lunch Bunch at Christ Church, Valdosta.
While churches provide ministries for their community as a pure gift, the congregation does receive benefits. The ministry you do for others is attracting to people looking for a new church home. People want to be part of a church that does good. When church shopping this is one among a number of factors that help someone decide to worship with you. Again, we don’t do the ministry in order to attract members, but it can have that added benefit.
Discovering Your Congregation’s Ministry
The basic idea is to find where the abilities of your congregation overlap the needs in your community. This will vary from place to place. In every case the ministry arises out of the needs of your neighbors in a way that corresponds with the congregations ability to meet that need. I should note that there are many good ideas your congregation should not take on as a ministry. For example, a preschool can be a good idea in a place where more preschools are needed and the church already has facilities appropriate for caring for children according to current building codes. But many of our buildings would not meet code for a preschool and not every area needs more child care. Similarly, not every place needs another food bank, soup kitchen, or thrift store. Photo of the Community Cares Café after school program at St. Andrew’s and St. Cyprian’s, Darien.
In addition to the facilities and abilities, your congregation needs people passionate about the idea who want to do the hard work to get a new ministry started and keep it going. Even if a community garden is a great idea for your community, it could be perfect for the Methodist Church down the street that has people interested in pursuing it, while a different ministry would better take root in your church.
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Lowering the Bar
While this might raise the bar, by expecting congregations that do not have any ministry for which it is known, the idea of a Signature Ministry also lowers the expectations for other churches. A church can only sign its name to so many activities. A Signature Ministry is one the congregation really gets behind. Considering what your church is doing, you may find that there are a lot of ministries happening that have little support. As important as deciding what to start is discerning when to stop doing something. It may be that some of what your congregation is doing was a good fit years ago, but now needs to be celebrated and discontinued.
Because this is what Christians do
We are neither the Rotary Club or the Junior Service League nor Habitat for Humanity or Second Harvest. We are the Body of Christ. We are about making disciples of Jesus Christ. So why start some outreach ministry? The simple answer is that followers of Jesus show the love of God for others. Jesus said this most clearly in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats when the righteous were described as those who clothed the naked, fed the hungry and visited those in prison. So if we are faithfully being Christ’s Body, the Church, we will be about serving Christ through serving others. Photo of Feed My Sheep at St. Paul’s, Augusta.
Take or leave the term “Signature Ministry”. Describing what your church is doing for your neighbors doesn’t need the lingo. So if the term doesn’t work for you, don’t use it, but do consider the idea behind the expression to see what your congregation might do together, or even what things you might need to stop in order to better focus your efforts.
-The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
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