One of the most beautiful images the Bible uses for the church is the human body (see Romans 12:4-5 for example). Our bodies are made up of many different parts each with a different function. Yet, each part is needed and they work together to make the whole body function. In the same way, our church is made up of many different people with different gifts, and each one is needed for us to work together to know Jesus and make Jesus known. When a church works as a body like this it is a glorious thing.
Over the last year or so I have been working, together with the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and the staff team, on a project called Men and Women Flourishing in Ministry at St Mary’s. I wrote on the blog in March about some of the earlier stages of this project. The last stage has been considering how as church we can best encourage, support and equip women and men, in all our diversity, to serve Jesus with our gifts. This is important not just so that we can get all the various jobs done at church, but because serving is a joy and a blessing, a vital part of how each of us grows as a disciple of Jesus, of how we grow together as his body, and of how as a church we make Jesus known to those who so desperately need him.
In this blog I am excited to share some of the outputs from the Men and Women Flourishing in Ministry project, ways in which we can grow together as the body that Jesus has made us to be.
Encouraging Every Member in Ministry
It is inspiring to see how many people at St Mary’s are serving in ministry. Our church would not run without the godly service of literally hundreds of women and men. Some of us serve in official and organised ways, others serve more relationally and informally. Thank you to everyone for what you are doing. We want to make it as easy as possible for new members to get involved and for existing members to grow in ministry. We plan to use the blog and other means to let church members know about the different roles available in the church and we will continue to use the Serving at St Mary’s Forms to make it accessible for people to join the teams. At the same time, we recognise that many people need personal encouragement to take on a role. Please could we all be ready, where appropriate, to give each other encouragement and support in trying a new area of service where we think it would be a good fit. We will continue to provide training, from time to time, for the various ministry teams and please do speak to your team leader if you would like extra training and support in what you are doing. It is also important that when necessary we can stop serving or reduce the number of areas we are serving in. Do speak to your Congregation Leader if you need to do that.
An Occasional Speakers Group
In order to grow the number of people who are equipped to give Bible talks and to sharpen our skills we plan to start an Occasional Speakers Group. This group is for men and women who speak for example at 7UP, X and Shift, Family Focus, Third Thursday Table, Christian Foundations, seminars and evangelistic events, and for those who are ready to get started in these ministries. The group will meet, to start with at least, once a term and be led by Jon Drake and Rachel Meynell. There will be training in some aspect of giving a talk, fellowship and encouragement, and practice with feedback and mentoring. We plan to meet for the first time in Spring 2026. If are interested in joining the Occasional Speakers Group, please contact Jon or Rachel.
Reflections in our Sunday Services
Our current practice at St Mary’s is that the sermons in our Sunday services are preached by men. I know there are a range of views in the church family on the roles of men and women in preaching and teaching, and I am passionate about maintaining our unity in Christ across these different views. I have been reflecting on this policy and concluded that theologically and biblically our current practice remains the right position. If you would like to read the reasons for this, please contact the church office for a copy of a paper I have written Preaching at St Mary’s. One of the things I say in that paper is there is much more to our teaching ministry than our sermons. I am keen to see that wider teaching given by both men and women. This would include speaking at seminars and training days, small group teaching, all-age talks, evangelistic talks and teaching our young people. I am also keen that we have Reflections in our Sunday services from time to time. These would be interviews or short talks where a member of the congregation, female or male, brings a personal perspective on an aspect of the Christian life or faith. Reflections like this are greatly appreciated and they allow us to hear from a wider range of voices than just our preaching team. If there are specific topics you’d like to hear addressed in Reflections please let me know.
Everyday Evangelism Training
The heart of our shared ministry is reaching out with the gospel to those who do not know Christ. As Christians this is something we long to do and something we all find hard. We therefore plan to continue our Everyday Evangelism Training. We plan to offer a training session once a term where church family members can come together to be equipped and encouraged in speaking of Jesus in everyday life. I hope this will help to keep us looking outward as a church and sharing Christ with those who do not yet know him.
Encouraging People to Consider Full-Time Ministry
I am struck by the growing need locally and nationally for people to serve in full-time or part-time ministry roles as congregation leaders, youth and children’s ministers, in church operations roles, and as mission partners. It has been so encouraging over the years to see a number of brothers and sisters from St Mary’s stepping into these roles at different stages in their working lives. I am keen to share their stories and journeys and to support church family members who would like to explore whether paid Christian ministry could be the best way for them to serve God. Please do speak to me, or others on the staff team, if this is something you are considering. Thinking of the St Mary’s staff team, I am also keen, when we can, to bring another woman onto the ministry team, not necessarily so that we can do more gender specific ministry but to have a more even gender balance in all that we do. The timing of this appointment would depend on church finances and other factors so it’s hard to be specific about when this would happen, but please do pray for the PCC as they discern whether this would be the right next step for our staff team.
It is a wonderful thing to be part of a body where men and women in all our diversity are united in Christ and serving him together with the gifts he has given us. I thank God for how this is happening in our church. It is all down to him. I’m thankful as well to each one of the hundreds of men and women serving in ministry at St Mary’s. I am always ready to talk about the issues raised in this blog, so please be in touch with further insights, questions and suggestions. Above all let’s be praying that through these five initiatives and more God would enable each one of us to flourish in Christ as we serve, bind us together as one body, and use us to make Jesus known, all for his glory.
Jon Drake
November 2025