These tips are particularly relevant for people doing a two year apprenticeship through the Ministry Training Strategy (MTS). Thanks to all the current and former apprentices and trainers who gave the ideas to me.
Starting out
It's normal to feel like you're not doing much.
MTS definition . . .
Ministry is not about being a jack-of-all-trades. You need to establish your strengths (partly through finding out your weaknesses!).
MTS is an experience of ministry, as opposed to training or a job. You need to benefit, not be used to fill a gap. You need to try new things.
Goals
Do what you do for a greater purpose. The work isn't an end in itself.
Primary MTS goal: godliness - from this other things will flow.
Primary MTS goal: regular bible reading and prayer (prayer is work). Converting non-Christians is also very important.
Primary MTS goal: to realise how much you don't know and to have an appetite for more, or to find your niche as a lay person.
Work out [your roles > values >] goals > method of achieving them (so something actually happens!) > review progress towards goals (is any progress actually heading towards the goals?). Being intentional like this fosters creativity and allows for adapting and changing.
Try new things!
Make sure you're doing all 8 MTS strands (ie bible study, thinking theologically, prayer and holiness, relationships in ministry, evangelism, bible teaching, training others and leadership and strategy).
Timetabling
You need to be both led by others and self led.
Think about the important things and allocate time to these each week.
Make sure you are spending time on a variety of ministry areas, and on things that are strengths and weaknesses for you.
Watch for the things and the people you don't naturally like.
Don't spend all your time on your local church (this can be tempting to do because it can be satisfying, achievable and 'praiseworthy'). Spend time on the wider church, the world, evangelism, friends etc.
Allocate time to meet with non-Christians (? 2 hours/week).
Don't do too much mentoring individuals because you can get disheartened by disappointments.
Ideas/planning: block off time each week to think, plan, pray etc.
Remember there's life outside of what's due – even when you're busy, take a bit of time out to study and do things to increase your knowledge and for long-term benefit.
Remember there's life outside of MTS – make time for errands, housework etc.
'At work' vs 'time off'
Consider your own intuition as to whether something is more appropriately 'time off' or 'building relationships' etc. Also consider what your body needs – even if something could fall into 'time off' you might need to do it during working hours because you need total rest on your day off.
Don't section Christian stuff strictly into MTS time only. For instance, don't make a Rule to never talk to your Christian brothers and sisters on your day off (if you do this you'll end up seeing this as part of your MTS job only - rather than part of you and your Christian life).
Consider your own intuition as to whether an 'at home' task is actually that (and should therefore be done out of work hours) – or if it's rather the ministry equivalent of pfaffing around the office while you refocus.
Pitfalls
Watch out for relationship conflicts and divisions – the devil loves to use these.
Gossip is a pitfall. Be careful about discussing a person with other leaders. Achieve a balance between useful discussion and betraying confidence.
There are two extremes to avoid in regard to socialising – making friendships into work and making church work seem a bludge. You can explain socialising with non-Christians in working hours as appropriate because it's important to keep non-Christian friendships going however this needs to happen.
Mentor
Have a mentor, so you can talk about disappointments – otherwise you may take these personally or become disheartened. Having a mentor enables you to learn from disappointments.
Clarify your own and your trainer's expectations (eg whether to get to things ahead of time to set up).
You need to receive training.
You should have your MTS apprenticeship reviewed.
Relationships
Invest in past Christian and non-Christian relationships.
Ensure you have regular contact with older Christians.
Money
You're not receiving a wage for hours worked, but rather a stipend (ie money given to free you up from doing other work).
Mistakes
Don't worry about making them. It's part of being a learner. Own up to them and learn from them. Be glad of the opportunity to do this.
Criticism: take it on board rather than being defensive. Remember to maintain the “I'm here to learn” attitude.
Approval
Be aware that you will face tension between wanting to seek approval from people because you want to be suitable for this work, while at the same time knowing that you 'shouldn't' be seeking approval from people.
Pain
MTS can be a painful experience.
Prayer and bible reading
Pray and read the bible because you love it and it's a privilege, rather than out of duty.
Vary how you pray and read the bible so you don't get bored.
One-on-one mentoring
Think of goals for your 1:1 folk. Pray about these.
Allow your people to give you feedback.
Keep an eye out for new people.
Leading groups
Recognise the personalities and roles in your group/team, and make sure you're catering for their needs.
Evangelism
This can include walk-up, writing tracts, email evangelism, prayer about evangelism, meeting up with non-Christians, doorknocking.
(You might want to allocate a slot of time each week to walk-up evangelism.)
(When doorknocking you can introduce yourself as being from the church down the street and interested in answering questions people have and getting to know people.)
Make sure you spend time with people that God is obviously working in.
Ministry/MTS ideas
Reading/discussion group – eg about Christianity and its relationship with today's culture
Familiarise yourself with an intro to Christianity course (eg Two Ways To Live) and be prepared to take someone through it.
Get all the local MTS folk together regularly.
Check out the MTS website.
Think about how to include non-intellectual people in ministry. Our goal should be about building people's faith rather than their intellect.
Women doing MTS
Women work differently to men. They tend to see less people, for longer each time and because the relationship is deeper, the women they see will open up more.
Women's ministry
It's good to have women teach women because of a shared perspective and experience, and for women to see role models. It's particularly good when women have children because both the husband and wife can't attend things.
Women are good evangelists - they're good at talking and it's natural for them to catch-up to chat. Do evangelism in a group (this way others see you're not alone, and they see how you relate).
You might need to make women's events girly.
Ideas: evangelistic events including dialogue dinners and gingerbread house making; training; book clubs; playgroups.
Help/remind/encourage men to include and consult with women. Do this regularly and gently, rather than infrequently criticising.
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