What Is This Shared Ministry Thing?

Here at Forest Park Christian Church in Tulsa, we are putting an intentional focus on shared ministries.  But what is “shared ministry?”

Imagine you are a sponge-you soak up knowledge and experiences from your daily life, your job, your church experiences, your education, things you read, your interactions with other people-the list goes on and on.  This means that you are filled with knowledge and experience.  But now what?  Do you hold onto it all, a plump sponge, unable to soak up any more, keeping everything inside of you just for yourself, or do you squeeze all of that knowledge and experience inside of yourself out onto other sponges who, just like you, are anxious to soak up knowledge in order to grow?

Shared Ministry is about sharing the unique gifts that we all have-gifts that are inherent to our personalities, gifts that have come from our experiences in life, gifts that we have learned through study and observation. Sharing these gifts is a way for us to not only benefit others but to also grow spiritually ourselves because once we have squeezed out the knowledge and experience we have, we can soak up new information.

There are so many gifts just waiting inside each and every one of us-some are already being shared and some are just waiting for the right time to emerge.  I think that time is now and I am excited about all of the possibilities that will open up to our congregation and to each of you as we begin to work together to share our gifts!

Terisa~Coordinator of Shared Ministries