The Church Ministries Wheel
I developed the "church ministries wheel" from the model known as "Gilbert's Wheel," created by the Reverend Richard S. Gilbert and included in the Unitarian Universalist Association's Social Justice Empowerment Program Handbook.
Rev. Gilbert "believes there are four dimensions of the religious life in the church. (1) The church as worshipping community (2) the church as caring community in which a mutual ministry operates to meet personal needs (3) the church as a community for life-span religious education (4) the church as a community of moral discourse and action." (This quotation is from the UUA handbook just mentioned; for further exposition of Rev. Gilbert's model, click on the link above.) The "hub and sidewall" of my "church ministries wheel" is essentially "Gilbert's Wheel" with a few different labels on it. I added a "tread" and an "axle" and transformed the diagram into a three-dimensional representation.
The "tread" represents the church's outreach into its neighborhood and community. Just as all the segments in the "hub and sidewall" touch one another, so the church's service ministries touch the community outside the congregation. As Rev. Gilbert writes, these areas of ministry " are understood, not as administrative categories but as functions of the church occurring at many programmatic places. These aspects of the total program are interdependent. Not one succeeds unless all the others succeed." As the church's ministries expand, the circumference of the "tread" grows larger: the church touches its surrounding community at more points.
It is not hard to imagine how the surrounding community is touched by a church's social justice ministry (what I like to call its "social transformation ministry" – my definition of a church is "a countercultural institution whose mission is to transform the world toward virtue"). Its religious education ministry can reach the surrounding community when some of its classes and events are announced and open to people outside the congregation. Its pastoral care ministry – and I include in this those activities and programs that serve to build and maintain a sense of welcome and friendliness and caring community in a church – can touch every Sunday visitor and guest speaker; and in those churches that have a parish nurse program or other such programs, some of the services thus provided can be offered to the church's neighbors as well as to its members.
The "axle" in my model represents two aspects of a congregation which, in my view, serve to balance and hold steady its many ministries. On the one hand – out in front where it is easily seen and experienced – is the church's culture: its language, behavioral norms, habits, and so on. On the other hand – only partially discernable to people outside the church – is the church's organizational and administrative structure. In a well-functioning church, these two parts of the "axle" must form a strong and seamless support for the whole church program. The church's organizational structures and procedures must be congruent with its cultural style and norms, and it must flow from the same center as the worship life of the church. That center is our faith: our principles and values as a faith community and an embodiment of our living tradition. In all that we do together as a church, we should strive to live out our faith and values.
In my research and practice and reflections on shared ministry, I found meaningful correspondences between the leading ideas about shared ministry and Rev. Gilbert's model, particularly the models for practicing shared ministry that have been developed at First Unitarian Church in Oakland CA and Unity Church - Unitarian in St. Paul MN. And I think I know why those correspondences exist. The idea of shared ministry is for members of the congregation to bring their gifts – their talents and skills and passions and so on – to the work of the church. When this happens, more ministry can happen in a church. And when this happens – because people value the work they are doing for the church as something that energizes or nourishes them or helps them learn or grow in some way – the quality of the whole church program can be greatly enhanced.
I am publishing my "church ministries wheel" here because it has been a helpful tool for my ministry, it has been helpful to lay leaders in churches I've served, and it has been helpful to colleagues with whom I've discussed it. If it is helpful to you, let me know about it.
– Rev. Paul Beedle (2002)
Printable Church Ministries Wheel Graphic