minestrone and ministry

The ministry. We all know about ministers.
We think of professional ministers,
ordained ministers,

But in our religious congregations, we are all called to be ministers.
In the ancient world,
coincidental with the break up of the Roman empire,
a new institution arose all over Europe,
the monastery,
and many of these monasteries
had as their mission hospitality.

the monks always had cauldrons of soup
simmering on the stove for hungry travelers,

People would stop after a day of traveling,
partaking of the hospitality, this service of the monastery,
the Latin "to serve" being ministre,
the stuff on the stove became called "the minestrone."

Minestrone,
the ministry of hospitality,
soup to weary travelers,
a powerful image that helps us understand our work together

to the monks, ministry was about
feeding hungry souls on the road of life,
it was something they did together.

The wood gatherers,
the those who worked in the garden,
and the carpenters, and the those who tended the quarters
were just as involved in the serving of that soup,
as was the cook, and the servers at the table.

The Abbot, as the spiritual leader of the community,
made an important contribution to the common ministry,
teaching, counseling, training,
and helping each monk discern their special gift,
but the minestrone was
the product of the whole community,

The traveler who came to the monastery for nourishment,
savored the vegetables, and beans, and bread,
the shared ministry of their collective efforts.

Here at the Treasure Coast Unitarian Universalist Church
we also have a common ministry

Ministry is a word that means to serve,
to serve the community,
the service of the community.
but for service to be a ministry
it is not enough to simply serve others.

The service must flow from conscious intent,
from a sense of mission,
it must flow from a desire to express the values
and purposes of that community.

The mission of those wayside monasteries included hospitality,
included nourishment,
included healing and quiet often refuge,
and there was also an invitation to go deeper,
to make connections with profound wisdom,
to grow in understanding of enduring truths,

The common ministry included the minestrone,
it included a place to sleep,
and more.

And so it is for us,
in our complex and highly mobile society,
people come to our religious communities seeking
hospitality, nourishment, healing, and a sense of refuge,
while trying make progress on their journeys,

This the mission that is given to us
The ministry of the congregation is the work we do together,
for our religious community, for our spiritual home,
we serve,
because what happens here is important.
it is important to us individually,
we come for the stimulation,
we come for the fellowship,
we come for the feeling of connection,
we come to because among these people we share values,
and we wish to give muscle to those values,
we wish to give body to our high ideals,
and we understand
that in order to do that we need
a community of committed participants