It’s always great to hear about churches that have done something a little different - It makes good news copy. But what about all the other churches that we never really hear about, that might not have held a sponsored rollerblading event or built a new extension, but are doing what churches are called to do, confidently teaching the word of God, ministering among their community on a daily basis?
To some people, the work that churches do might feel normal and routine. There are the church services, the youth groups, the evangelism courses, the knit and natters, the men’s breakfasts, the funerals, the weddings, the baptisms, the prayer meetings – the list goes on. It’s unremarkable to hear that churches are doing these things, because they are normal for a church, expected even, but that doesn’t mean that something remarkable isn’t happening.
Revd James Terry, vicar of St Catherine’s, Tranmere for eleven years believes “It’s important that we acknowledge the regular weekly ministry that churches up and down the diocese do.” He describes how much of what churches do as being ‘ordinary’, but how, “We can be confident that God makes the ordinary, extraordinary.”
James delights in following the Apostle Paul’s charge to Timothy: “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:3).
In the video below, James talks about how people's lives can be changed by coming to know Jesus, through the ordinary yet extraordinary ministry in churches as the Bible is taught, and how wonderful it is when God uses us to make and grow disciples of Jesus for his glory!