On Palm Sunday 2007, my life changed in a way that I am still striving to understand. That Sunday I delivered my first sermon at the Protestant Worship Service at Syracuse University. After service that Sunday, I felt this strong, almost unbearable pull into the ministry. That day I began to think more critically about what it meant to be a person of faith, Christian, Protestant, African America, a Woman, a Feminist, and just about every other form of identity I had at the time and I started to grapple with the idea of ordination and ministry.
On Palm Sunday 2010, instead of being an integral part of the Worship service, I was virtually a spectator. Three years and 3,000 miles away from my experience at Syracuse, I still felt a strong, almost unbearable pull into the ministry – only this time it was not articulated in the same way.
After graduating from college, rather than matriculating in a school of graduate study, I decided to spend a year serving with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). Spending 10 months with total strangers and serving the needs of communities all across the country sounded like a fascinating way to take time off between undergraduate and graduate education. What I did not know at the time was that this would become an integral part of my faith.
Growing up I was always involved in “community service.” Whether it was through 13 years in Girl Scouting or through involvement with church and school groups, service was part of my daily life. It was not until I got to college that I realized this made me unique. Furthermore, it was not until I was being interviewed about my time in NCCC that I realized some would consider this “admirable.”
One of the very first lessons taught is Sunday School is, “God created everyone equal.” This basic and incredibly complex notion guided me throughout my young life and continues to be my motivating factor today. “Community Service” for me was never haves helping the have-nots. Nor was it this beautiful, symbiotic experience through feeling joy from the happiness and well-being of others. Community Service is simply my way of actualizing what I believe to be an ontological truth. For me, God creating everyone equal means superfluous wealth has no place in the face of abject poverty.
In 2007, I thought my ministry would mean delivering sermons in an African Methodist Episcopal Church. But the more I engage in community work, the more I realize ministry doesn’t have to be about missions, evangelism, and preaching, it can be about community organizing. I thought of Jesus Christ as a community organizer long before the 2008 election because I have always been more enamored by the love Jesus Christ showed to everyone –regardless of race, religion, gender, or socio-economic standing, than his crucifixion, resurrection, or ascension. Faith might allow me to understand salvation but love compels me to live that betters those around me.
My ministry was, is, and always will be about sharing the open, accepting, and transforming belief that “God is love –and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
(1 John 4:16)
Hi Nicole, thanks for sharing your heart here, I look forward to your further thoughts. What do you think of community service within the church directly vs. done by church people with “secular” organizations or “parachurch” religious organizations unaffiliated with a local congregation?
Firstly, I love you! I was there on that magical Palm Sunday (one of my favorite points on the liturgical calendar) and you let the Word of God come through you. In my opinion, you are quite the natural.
Secondly, I think you bring up a very important theological premise that is often ignored in many American churches: the idea of giving yourself to something greater. Too often, we become consumed with our individual life and this prohibits us from fully engaging with any others. I think NCCC is a great way to give yourself to enact Gospel justice in the world. Callings are tricky but I think your passion for others will translate into either ordained ministry (AME…or UMC, perhaps? 🙂 ) or any other ministry that you pursue.
Ben,
I have actually worked a lot with Habitat for Humanity (which I believe is a “parachurch” organization you’re talking about) and I think the “Theology of the Hammer” is beautiful. This is precisely the type of Ministry I plan to carry out once my AmeriCorps days are all said and done with. I think these organizations help individual people of faith, and no faith, express themselves, and provide churches (and other religious and secular organizations) an outlet for service that might be founded on “Christian values” but translates into “common action for the common good.”
Service within the church directly is also very important as I believe a body of believers should worship together, not only in song, prayer and communion, but through fellowship and service. I don’t think one or the other is particularly “better”, ut as one who’s moved around a lot in the past two years (thanks to my AmeriCops life) it’s comforting to know that I can continue my “ministry” anywhere there’s a HFH. It’s really hard to find a new church family, but it’s almost sinfully easy to bond over swinging a hammer or manipulating a skill saw.
Anthony,
You might think I’m still joking, but the Church of God is Love will happen!
I agree that there is a lack of awareness of self-lessness when it comes to American churches. While there is certainly not a lack of service and good going on, there’s always someone’s/or some Church’s name attached.The beauty of NCCC was that with the uniform, we transformed into something greater.While the AmeriCorps and NCCC brand was made known, no one Unit or Team stood out and at the end of the day, service was done. I would love to see a similar action happen in American churches where “Mani Street AME” didn’t get the recognition for service but the larger body of believers did. There is a strong message of service in Christianity but that has become over shadowed by the other prevailing messages. It’s going to take this kind of selflessness (and bright young leaders like those found on SoF) to make that change happen.
GET IT!