“What if we wore the white collar every day?”
That was the question posed by Joe Szczesny of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Wantage to a gathering of some 100+ delegates and others at a workshop entitled “Bearing Witness: Ministry in the World” at the Robert Treat Hotel’s Crystal Room during the annual convention.
Szczesny was one of seven lay members of the diocese who were invited by the Committee on the Laity of the Commission on Ministry to bear witness to their ministries.
The committee was celebrating its first anniversary of being an official branch of the Commission. Chairwoman Mary Barrett of Grace Church in Madison said her group’s aim is to raise awareness that the ministry is not limited to the clergy, and that everything we do as Episcopalians matters.
“We’re talking about the totality of our lives,” she said.
Szcezny agreed.
“I see lay ministry as living what I love and sharing it with others,” he said. “Wear your white collar proudly!”
The Episcopal Church’s traditional view on the importance of lay ministry was noted by committee member and deacon, the Rev. Liz Ostuni, also of Good Shepherd in Wantage, who pointed to the section on ministry in the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer.
“Who’s first?” she asked. “Lay persons!”
Among those in attendance was non-delegate Sheelagh Clarke of St. Stephens in Millburn. She made a special trip because of her life-long effort of making personal ministry a priority in all that she does.
“I don’t talk about God and church, but I try to live it,” she said.
Clarke feels the committee is providing a vital service, since educating members about their role will define what the church will be in the future.
“Too many people see the church as a service, not that they provide a service,” she said. “If more people are involved, the church will change.”
And she believes strongly that if church members “walk the walk” of personal ministry, good things will happen.
“I believe the lay ministry is really crucial for the church to grow,” she said. “The clergy are very important, but the church will only be a church if the people are there.”
That feeling was shared by all the presenters, and summed up by Szczensy with a sports metaphor:
“We’re the first string!”
For more information and to receive a copy of the Commission on Ministry’s resource manual “Celebrating Life As Ministry,” contact Mary Barrett.
Bill McColl is a member of All Saints, Leonia.
