Holistic ministry

In Warren Crank’s book, Unofficial Chaplain, we find a story of minestrone soup.

“Monks made minestrone. Minestrone is an Italian word derived from the Latin ministrare. The English words minister and ministry are sourced from there. At the heart of these words is the notion of simple service. All kinds of service. Minestrone soups were prepared by monks and kept warm on the fire, always ready to be served up to weary travellers. This was a pressing physical need. Their primary response was a practical one. They made nourishing soup. Their spiritual service encompassed care for the whole person, whatever the need might have been. When they saw a need they could meet, they met it.”

(Warren Crank, Unofficial Chaplain: A Handbook For Everyday Service to the People Around You, 2017)

Pretty amazing story, and I will share more on this on Sunday. As an Unofficial Chaplain, your ministry is to the whole person. As a church, our ministry is to the whole person.

How do we do that? I am glad you asked…

Featured image: Die Klostersuppe. Artist Heinrich Bürkel (between 1864 and 1865), in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.