Total Ministry is all the baptized members ministering together. It prepares members of a congregation toserve as a team in the ministerial leadership roles traditionally filled by a seminary-trained priest. Total Ministry may also be called "mutual ministry," or "collaborative ministry." Congregations that cannot find or afford a seminary-trained priest may then have the full range of traditional ministries – regular Eucharist, original sermons, and personal pastoral care. Instead of paying a priest to minister for us, we are able to do the ministry ourselves.
2. Tradition is important in the Episcopal Church, why are we trying this modern concept of total ministry?
The ministry of the baptized is part of our tradition. Scripture assures us that "each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7) and that together we make up the Body of Christ. Many congregations in both the early church as described in Scripture and the beginnings of our Episcopal Church in this country ministered together without resident priests for every church. Total Ministry in the Spirit of the Heartland will also include traditionally seminary-trained priests as part of the Ministry Team.
3. How does Total Ministry propose to serve the specific needs of the aging core of traditional Episcopalians?
Because our Ministry Teams will be "raised up" from our own congregations, the ministers will be far more aware of the specific needs of our parishioners than a seminary-trained priest who may never have served in a small, traditional congregation. Our ministers will be selected in response to the specific needs of individual congregations. The "aging core of traditional Episcopalians" may find a ministry to our congregation as elders passing on the traditions and treasured stories and by making their specific needs known.
Return to Top
One of the team members may have the ministry of coordinating the team itself. Where financial and administrative issues for Spirit of the Heartland are concerned, we have a council that includes representatives from participating congregations, clergy elected by the council, and our Pastoral Mentor. Our current council members are Ann Beard (Good Samaritan), David Dodds (St. Stephen's), Linda Maloney (St. John's), Bea Winkler (Our Saviour's), the Rev. Pat Gillespie (Pastoral Mentor), and the Rev. Connie Claxton (elected by council lay members).
2. What is a Pastoral Mentor?
The Pastoral Mentor is a seminary-trained priest who shares in the coordination of the team, serving as mentor and shepherd, offering resources and support for the team, and facilitating the training and formation of the ministers. Total Ministry teams are required to have a seminary-trained mentor. Spirit of the Heartland's Pastoral Mentor will also minister as part of the team. During the transition time before a Ministry Team is in place, our Pastoral Mentor will also preside at the Eucharist, according to our ministry covenants, and provide basic priestly care as needed and requested.
3. Where do seminary-trained priests fit in?
In addition to our Pastoral Mentor, the priest from St. John's, St. Cloud, will serve as a team member. They will serve at times in each of the ministerial roles -- preaching, counseling, celebrating the sacraments. Both priests, along with our Canon Missioner, the Rev. Connie Claxton, will help with the formation and training of the team. During the transition time, the Rev. Josie Martins will also be serving in our congregations. Other priests may on occasion assist in the preparation of the Team Ministers.
4. Where do diocesan-trained deacons fit in?
The Rev. Priscilla Gray is part of our Formation and Training Team and will be helping with the preparation of our Team Ministers. Other diocesan-trained deacons may on occasion be involved in specific parts of the preparation.
5. What is a Ministry Team?
A Ministry Team is a group of people from our congregations, chosen and called by our congregations for specific ministries. Together they will be able minister in all the ways a traditional seminary-trained priest does, but only in our congregations. Ministry Teams are designed to fit the needs of the congregation(s) they serve. Our "Phase 2" Discernment indicated that our Spirit of the Heartland team should include : communication coordinator, preacher(s), deacon/pastoral care minister, Christian education coordinator & support person, outreach and evangelism minister, administrator/stewardship person, liturgist, and sacramentalist(s), and also our Pastoral Mentor as pastoral shepherd/spiritual guide.
Return to Top
Yes. There will be at least one seminary-trained team member, who will continue to serve in our congregations along with the other Team Ministers.
2. Why hasn't the priest visited us yet?
Except for Good Samaritan, where Pat is called as Rector, our congregations have covenanted with her as ‘Total Ministry Developer' rather than rector or traditional priest in charge. During our transition to Total Ministry, she will officiate at some Eucharists, and will serve in those basic ministries that require a priest. Regular pastoral visits are not part of that ministry covenant. Direct first-person invitations, however, are not unwelcome. Please do notify Pat of pastoral emergencies. It's difficult to respond to needs one has not been informed about.
3. Without traditional, personal pastoral care, how will this keep people from feeling left out or abandoned?
The transition time is like having a supply priest rather than like having a rector. Those who need personal attention from a priest may, therefore, feel left out and abandoned. The Spirit of the Heartland congregations cannot right now afford to pay a priest for this ministry. That is why we have chosen to invest in Total Ministry. With Total Ministry we should be able to have traditional, personal pastoral care on a regular basis.
4. Who will visit me in the hospital?
A minister of the church. When the team is in place it will be a minister specially prepared to make hospital visits. If there is a need for the sacraments, an ordained deacon, sacramentalist, or seminary-trained priest from the team will visit. You may also have visits from specially trained Lay Eucharistic Visitors bringing Communion.
5. Will there be a priest at my burial service (wedding, baptism)?
Yes. It may be a sacramentalist, who is a locally affirmed ("Canon 9") ordained priest, or a seminary-trained priest.
6. Can I choose a minister to visit or for a special service?
Possibly. You may make a request for a specific minister to the Ministry Team (rather than to an individual minister). The Team will respond, according to availability, the gifts of the individual ministers, and the team's discernment of the overall ministry needs of the congregations served. Just as a traditional rector may not always be immediately available, ministry team members need vacations and have other commitments. A ministry team has the advantage of having several other ministers available, who are known to the congregation.
7. After total ministry starts really working, will we have Communion every week?
Yes. Having Holy Eucharist available every week in every congregation is possible with Total Ministry. Congregations that request Morning Prayer could have that as well. With more ministers, congregations can have more services.
8. Will there be an opportunity for a service of some kind one day during the week?
This also is possible if a congregation wants it. Midweek Holy Eucharist and even the Daily Office become possibilities.
9. Who will do the sermons?
Primarily trained and licensed lay preachers will prepare and give sermons. Seminary- trained priests and diocesan-trained deacons will also preach. On occasion, sacramentalists (locally affirmed priests) or locally-affirmed deacons may preach. It will still be an option to have Lay Readers give previously prepared and approved sermons if desired.
Return to Top
The lay ministries that are being done in our congregations now will continue. We will still need altar guild ministers, acolytes, lectors, etc. The Ministry Team is to fill the place of the seminary- trained priest, not to take on all the work of the church. Total Ministry means just that – "total." For a team to work, the ministry of all the baptized members of a congregation is necessary.
2. What am I going to have to do?
Total Ministry is not about "have to." We will each participate as the Spirit guides us in our own way in our own time. There are things that need to be done and the Church and the Spirit call people to do God's work. Being open to the call of the Spirit in prayer is a good start. Many people find Total Ministry frees them from feeling they have to do jobs they don't want and have been doing ‘because it needs to be done and no one else would do it.' Total Ministry is an opportunity to discover and do the work of ministry that is really right for you, that gives you joy while serving others.
3. We have been doing so many things for ourselves for so long, why can't we just keep doing that and use supply priests?
Experience says that leaders, wardens in particular, get burned out and still some ministries are left undone. The young people and the "aging core" are often the first ministries to be left undone. Ask those people who have been doing those "so many things." A response from a leader in one of our congregations talks about "small groups now overtaxed with busywork and requirements and most especially by the constant demands on all to help with this, that and everything anyone has an idea about." Total Ministry can free people to focus on their unique ministry without feeling that they have to work on every new ministry.
4. Can I do something different?
Yes. Some Total Ministry Parishes have discerned wonderful and surprising gifts for individual new ministries that have been hidden behind an assumption that a particular person is the perpetual parish lector or eternal Sunday school teacher, and they are freed from whatever slot they have been stuck in.
5. Will we still need a vestry and wardens?
Yes. Those ministries are necessary for the administration of our individual parishes. Although we will share our Ministry Team(s), each congregation will continue it's individual identity and unique mission, guided by it's wardens and vestry.
6. What about youth?
Our youth have a ministry to serve our congregations also. Some young people may be called to travel to other congregations to minister as well, as acolyte or lector or simply as a ‘youth presence' in congregations without young people of their own yet.
7. If I am not a part of the team, will I still be able to be involved in the church and in what ways?
All the regular, traditional lay ministries will continue. For people not ministering as part of the team, the ministry discernment process may open up new ministry opportunities, either in their own congregation or in other Spirit of the Heartland congregations.
8. Are the team ministers primarily "administrators" ?
Only if you view a traditional parish priest as primarily an administrator. Just as a rector would, Team Ministers will do some supervising, supporting, and training for the other ministers in our congregations. For example, a Pastoral Care Minister on the Team would help with the preparation of lay Eucharistic visitors (LEVs); or the Liturgist would support the musicians and help train the acolytes.
9. Why don't we just find and prepare some sacramentalists and preachers?
Churches that have tried this have found that sacramentalists and preachers without a team are overwhelmed with people's expectations. They end up trying to be "mini priests" without the time or preparation for the task. For this reason no congregation in this diocese is approved by the Commission on Ministry or the bishop to have sacramentalists and preachers without the support of a team. Experience proves that in these cases burnout destroys our most gifted ministers.
Return to Top
We won't. God continually calls us to more -- to new life and ministry. But more will get done by a Ministry Team than by one seminary-trained priest. We can trust that God continues to give us what is necessary to do the work God is calling us to do.
2. Who will be in charge?
God is in charge. That's why prayer is essential to forming a ministry team. Yet God works through our human hands and the gifts we have been given. The Vestry continues with it's usual responsibilities and the Team, with the guidance of the Pastoral Mentor, makes most of the decisions normally made by a priest in charge. Individual team members are in charge of particular areas, for which they have been trained. The situation at Good Samaritan is slightly different, as they have called Pat as their Rector, including the usual responsibilities of that title.
3. Whose idea is this anyway?
Many attribute the idea to the Holy Spirit calling God's people to use their spiritual gifts. The idea has been developing for years in dioceses with many small, rural congregations, such as Alaska and those in Michigan. The idea for Spirit of the Heartland came from local multi-church gatherings usually facilitated by Canon Missioners to discuss possibilities for the future of our congregations. The idea was formally accepted by our vestries. The vision is still growing and changing, reflecting that action of the Spirit in our lives.
Return to Top
Yes, both have invested time and money in Total Ministry Programs. Our Canon Missioners have given much time to preparing for this ministry. Spirit of the Heartland has received a diocesan Rural and Small Church Grant of $6,800. The Episcopal Center also intends to contribute toward the training expenses of individual team ministers.
2. Is this a top-down diocesan plan?
Total Ministry is a grass-roots, defined-in-the-congregation type of plan. The Canon Missioners from the Diocese introduced the various options, but we are not forced to follow any particular plan. Total Ministry when accepted is refined and adapted to the individual situation.
3. 3. What does it cost in money and time?
Our set-up budget for our first year is $111,650. This includes in kind contributions (primarily of time) of $63,481. Our parishes contribute $41,980, of which $37,375 is compensation for our Pastoral Mentor. Our grant covers the difference. Approximately $4,200 is for one-time set-up expenses. This suggests that after the program is established, the combined congregations will need approximately $6,600 plus the compensation for the Pastoral Mentor, which although yet undetermined, will be significantly less than during the initial period.
4. How do we pay for the training?
Some comes from the grant. The individual expenses, for example EFM tuition of $325 per year, are traditionally shared three ways among the individual, the parish, and the diocese.
5. How many people will be on the team?
That's up to the congregations and the Holy Spirit. Our Phase 2 discernment resulted in ten ministry roles and it would be wonderful to have them all filled. Some of them may have more than one minister in that role on the Ministry Team. We are not setting quotas or goals. We may eventually grow to two teams.
6. What if we don't have enough people?
No individual Spirit of the Heartland congregation is expected to fill all the roles. Even with all our congregations together, some roles initially may remain unfilled. Again, it's time to trust that the Holy Spirit will provide what's needed for our mission and ministry.
7. What about the other churches?
We may not end up with a perfect balance of ministers proportionate to each congregation. That's okay. "The Spirit allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses" (1 Corinthians 12:11b).
8. What about St. John's in St. Cloud -- they're not small or rural?
St. John's will have a full-time priest, but they could use more ministry time than that. They also have many gifted lay ministers who are potential team ministers. Spirit of the Heartland's covenant with St. John's allows their ministers to participate in training and on our Ministry Team(s), which will serve in all the covenanted churches including St. John's. Most congregations have made a financial commitment to Spirit of the Heartland toward our Pastoral Mentor's compensation. St. John's contribution is approximately one unit per week (3-5 hours) of their priest's time and use of their copy machine.
9. What about Grace Church in Royalton?
Grace Church has not officially covenanted with Spirit of the Heartland yet. But they have already made their contribution. The Rev. Priscilla Gray will be involved in the training and formation of our Team Ministers.
10. What about The Living Waters?
The Living Waters is a ministry of several central Minnesota churches that is unrelated to Spirit of the Heartland and Total Ministry. Three of the Spirit of the Heartland congregations and our Pastoral Mentor are involved in this ministry along with St. Luke's, Willmar. There will be no pressure on the other congregations to share this ministry, although they are always welcome to participate.
Return to Top
"Discernment" is a biblical term for a spiritual gift for perceiving God at work in the world. In our case it involves a prayerful, communal effort to discover what God is calling us to do and what gifts we have received -- specifically which ministries are best done by which people in our congregations. It is not a logical process with firm rules, but a prayerful reflection involving our characteristically Anglican references to scripture, tradition, and reason.
2. Who makes the final decision about who is on the team?
The Spirit and the Church together. Not only our congregations are involved in this discernment of the Spirit's choices, but also our diocesan Commission on Ministry (COM) must confirm and approve the choices.
3. Who decides who does what?
Initially our congregations in discernment match people with ministries. Later, as the Spirit moves in the formation and training of the team, some adjusting and shifting may occur as new growth occurs and new gifts are revealed.
4. What is the COM?
The Commission on Ministry (COM) assists the bishop in determining needs for ministry and in discernment of people for ordination. They provide guidance and support for those preparing for ordination as well as for both lay and ordained ministers. Total Ministry Teams and their plan to prepare ministers must be approved by the COM.
5. What is Canon 9?
Canon 9 is part of our national church law that provides for the ordination of local deacons and priests who are ordained and licensed to serve only in their own community. The details of Canon 9 may be found at Episcopal Church Canon 9
Return to Top
Don't panic. Trust the wisdom of your congregation and don't say "no" immediately. God may be calling you to new growth. Spend time in prayer and listening to others in your congregation about why they have chosen you for this ministry. There will be two optional retreat days (7/17 & 7/31) offered providing support and space for people to reflect on their response to a call from your congregation.
2. What if I'm called and can't say ‘yes' this year?
Spend some time in prayer and reflection, on your own or at one of the retreats before responding. Our Total Ministry program is set up so that new Team Ministers can be added each year as needed.
3. What if a team member doesn't have the time required?
Team Ministry does involve a commitment of time. The ususal is one unit a week (3-5 hours, the equivalent of a morning, afternoon, or evening) and never more than two units per week average. The team is replacing a clergy person that works an average of twelve units (50 hours) a week. Again, spend time in prayer and communal reflection about your time priorities and whether this is the time for you to make a commitment to ministry.
4. Can people who are not here for the full calendar year be involved?
Yes. Certainly in the ongoing ministries of the church, as they have been all along. There may be options for serving on the Ministry Team as well, depending on how much of the year they are here. Monthly team formation gatherings are very important, but a few could be missed. Spring and Fall team retreat times are essential for the ministers to operate as a team. We are small congregations where adapting to individual needs is essential. If the Spirit is calling someone who doesn't fit the mold, perhaps the Spirit will help us change the shape of the mold.
5. What if I'm called and have time but not money?
Trust that we will be able to work it out. "Giving" is a spiritual gift also, and perhaps there is someone whose gift and ministry is to sponsor a Team Minister.
6. What if the same name comes up on several lists?
It may happen. This calls for further prayerful discernment on the part of the individual and the potential team. Perhaps the gaps in the gifts of the other team members indicates the direction the multi-gifted individual might follow. No individual will be asked or allowed to fill more than one ministerial role on the team, although there may be some adapting to match individual gifts.
7. Can someone change their ministry later?
Yes. We grow and change so that, for example, a person discerned this year as liturgist may discover new gifts and be discerned in some future year as preacher. "The Spirit blows where it chooses" (John 3:8).
Return to Top
Formation is growing and shaping in a particular direction and pattern. It is more than education. Here it refers to individual spiritual growth and the shaping of people into Christian ministers, and to the communal growth and shaping of the Ministry Team in the image of Christ. It is part of our baptismal hope to "grow into the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
2. Who trains and how is that done?
The Spirit of the Heartland Formation and Training Team outlines a plan for preparing a Ministry team, which then must be approved by the COM. Our Formation and Training Team includes our Pastoral Mentor, Pat, our Canon Missioner, Connie, two EFM trainers, Johanna Morrigan and Linda Maloney, and a deacon, Priscilla. Pat, Linda, and Johanna will facilitate EFM seminars. Priscilla will work with team formation. Other clergy or programs may be involved with specific ministries.
3. When will the training be done?
At this time, we hope to begin formation and training in September of 1999. It will involve approximately the same average time commitment as being on the Ministry Team - a unit (of 3-5 hours) weekly, and not more than two units each week. There will be various schedule options that are arranged according to the needs of those involved. Possible options include: short weekly gatherings, twice monthly longer gatherings, full-day monthly gatherings. Once a month the whole team will gather for group formation. Group sessions will probably meet nine months out of the year. Individual ministry-specific training may be done in the remaining months.
4. What is EFM?
EFM – Education for Ministry – is a program of theological education and ministry formation designed for lay people by an Episcopal Seminary. Students gather in groups of 6-12 with a trained mentor for study, prayer, and theological reflection. Through study of scripture and tradition, and sharing their own life stories, participants reflect on how God is at work in their own lives. The group supports ministries and builds Christian community. More information can be found at EFM Home Page.
5. Why EFM?
EFM is the "default" and " preferred" foundation for our formation and training because it is thorough, it is "tried and true" and ready to go, it includes ministry formation as well as education, and because we have three mentors who are trained in the program. It alone is not sufficient preparation for a Ministry Team, but it is a readily adaptable and easily supplemented. Also EFM is required by the COM for licensing preachers.
6. What if a team member can't do EFM?
The Formation and Training Team will work with individuals to plan alternative, equivalent training and formation as needed. This may lengthen the time until completion because of the time it takes to design a program and have it approved. Team Ministers in alternative programs will still be expected to participate in regular group formation times.
7. What are the alternative trainings?
We have looked at programs used by other Total Ministry teams. None so far is as ‘ready to go' for us as EFM. Most likely the alternatives would be designed for individuals as the need occurs. If there are many people unable, or unwilling, to participate in EFM, so that an alternative group program needs to be designed, we may need to hire someone to put it together for us in consultation with the Formation and Training Team and the COM.
8. When will the training process be complete?
Different ministries require different amounts of training. Some ministers' training may be completed in two years or less depending on previous education and experience. Others may need four years or more. There are also specific canonical time constraints on those who are preparing for ordination as deacons or sacramentalists. The spiritual formation of the team is ongoing, and it may take as much as two years before the team is ready to minister together. Individual spiritual formation is never completed.
9. Why all the rules about preparing the team?
Because we want ministers we can trust to guide our spiritual lives and because we want our churches to be healthy and growing. Also, the plan for preparing the team must be approved by the COM and must be in accordance with the canons of the church. For the details, "Canon 9" may be found at
Episcopal Church Canon 9
Return to Top
A commitment for training/formation and ministry of an average of approximately one unit (3-5 hours) per week, and no more than two weekly units, is expected.
2. Are team ministers on the team forever?
No. Time spent on a Ministry Team will vary. Ministers may "retire," take extended leave time, or change to a different ministry. New people may enter formation/training each year if a call is discerned by the congregation. Commissioning of ministries may include a covenant for a certain time period to be determined between minister and community.
3. What happens when the team ministers get tired or burned out?
They may retire or take time off. One advantage to having seminary-trained priests as part of the team, rather than simply as mentors, is that a seminary-trained priest can fill in for any of the other ministers when they take time off.
4. Can we ever call our own seminary- trained priest again?
Yes, if the resources are available and a seminary-trained priest is interested. Some Ministry Teams think that even if they had the money for a traditional rector, they might prefer Total Ministry. They have real options for ministry that traditional parishes do not have.
Return to Top
Yes. There are teams functioning throughout the Anglican Communion. We have two active Total Ministry teams already ministering in our diocese, and other teams are in preparation. There is a international conference
"Living the Covenant"-- in June at St. Olaf in Northfield that will include ministers from many of these teams. Because of the diocesan grant we received, each of our Spirit of the Heartland congregations is able to send someone to that gathering: Cynthia Evans from Good Samaritan, Doris Dodds from St. Stephen's, Cedar and Johanna Morrigan from Our Saviour's, and Linda Maloney from St. John's. Connie and Pat will also be at the conference. We hope to learn from the experience of those who are already doing Total Ministry instead of talking about it.
2. How are they doing? What is the history of growth (numbers) in other total ministries?
They are doing very well, indeed. From the Minnesota congregations, in their own words:
"I can honestly say since we have implemented Total Ministry our congregation has grown 100%. Our usual attendance on a Sunday was around 20 to 25 people. We now average around 60 to 65. Our Sunday School has grown and we have moved into a new church with a mortgage!!! We are entirely Total Ministry. There are no paid positions with the exception of music. Our talents have not come that way yet. But I am sure the Lord will provide when the need arises! It is an exciting venture. One that I would never have missed. It is terrifying but if one never steps out in faith what good are you to the body? Use your gifts and God will multiply them tenfold!!"
"To be perfectly honest I do not know how it has affected our average attendance. Do not think it has gone down, probably is up." In addition to a couple of new families, "we have several singles, couples and families who had been active, quit coming to church for a variety of reasons and are now back on a fairly regular basis. ...We have had 5 baptisms with 2 more in the planning stages, 2 weddings and 2 funerals since the ordination/commissioning in February, 1997. ...All of us, team and congregation, are enthusiastic about our model of ministry. Sure, if we suddenly quadrupled in size and finances we'd probably look into hiring a priest, but I don't think we'd have to do that. Our whole congregation has learned to be ministers and we're very good at being there for each other."
Return to Top
Read Volume 2 of the Total Ministry Owners' Manual
I. The Basics
II. Ministry Team Leadership
III. How does it work?
IV. Current Ministries
V. Authority
VI. Cost
VII. Discernment
VIII. Ministry Team Selection
IX. Ministry Team Formation and Training
X. The Team Ministers
XI. Other Ministry Teams
The Rev. Linda Lundgren, locally affirmed priest
Trinity, Hermantown:
The Rev. Anne Scheible, locally affirmed priest
St. Matthew's, Chatfield:
Got other questions?
Contact us: spirit@MotherFlash.com
Return to Spirit of the Heartland Home Page.