Region by Region The California Eldership

by Jacob Clagg, Director of Communications

More and more, I take it as an axiom that all proper ministry is vulnerable and by extension, all persons make themselves vulnerable when engaged in proper ministry. Try as we might to shore up our weaknesses, defend ourselves from critique, stuff down our emotions, and safeguard ourselves and our families from ministry's obligations, I do not believe we can do this very well, or for very long. At some point, I think, we are inevitably pulled into ministry with the metaphorical plastic gloves off, or we are inevitably pulled out of ministry, by God or by our own unwillingness to get dirty.

To love other people in the way God has commissioned us is to be real, tangible, and present, not merely token, symbolic, and distant. It’s not just that ministry requires of us great effort, although it does that too, but it seems to obligate us to other people, and I can think of nothing more antithetical to the American way of life than to be obligated to others, or, in other words, to be neighborly not with just a wave and a Christmas card, but with investment of our life and our time.

The stories coming out of our California Eldership bear testimony to this way of ministry. From the migrations that founded the eldership, to the embracing and cooperative relationships between our Hispanic and Caucasian churches, the California Eldership is all in on transformational ministry in their communities. They are breaking stereotypes with stories of long-term recovery, flipping tables through homeless ministries, taking daring action in their cross-cultural ministries, and raising up the voices of youth.

In this latest issue in our series of Region by Region, I hope you take inspiration from the stories here, find hope in God’s movement and action all around our denomination, and recognize a deeper sense of unity and community with the faithful pastors, teachers, evangelists, and lay leaders of the California Eldership that are doing the work God has called them to do.