My Best Day in Ministry: Teresa Tysinger

Teresa, 1999

Today's guest post comes from Teresa Tysinger, a former member of my youth group in Kissimmee, FL back in the 1990s and currently one of my very best friends.  In addition to her work with the church, she is also a graphic designer, great cook and all-around crafty kind of person.  You can check out her online store at www.GoodDayShop.etsy.com or follow her on Twitter @DesignMasterT .  It is somehow very appropriate that someone who means so much to me is posting here on Valentine's Day!  Much love to you all!

Thanks so much to my beloved friend and former youth pastor, Carl, for letting me share some thoughts with you today on his blog.  I’ve so much loved reading the words of the other guest bloggers.

I just celebrated 8 years at Christ United Methodist Church here in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Coordinator of Media & Communications.  (How the times flies!)  I had been working here about 2 years when I was asked to speak at one of our adult Sunday school classes.  As a still fairly new employee, the class president invited me to come speak about my role on the church staff.  I dodged the invitation a few times, finding excuses for why I wasn’t available.  As a recovering introvert, the task of speaking in front of a crowd of highly educated, professionally successful and well-read adults intimidated me.  How on earth was I qualified?  Why would they want me or care about what I had to say?

But the class president persisted month after month.  I began feeling a tug on my heart to accept the invitation.  “Oh, boy. God, you really want me to do this, don’t you?”  It was a rhetorical question. God doesn’t tug on your heart for the fun of it.  And, if I would allow myself to be honest, the words coming to mind that I wanted to say had very little to do with explaining my job at the church.  Which confused me even more.  I finally, yet still reluctantly, agreed to speak to the class on one Sunday in March of 2006 – almost a year after I was first asked.

That morning I prayed for God to be glorified by my words (and to calm my nerves!).  I did share about my work creating marketing materials for church events, managing the church website, producing the church’s weekly newsletter, etc.  But I ended up sharing much more.  I shared about growing up in a family who not only went to church every week but who also talked about the sermon over Sunday lunch. I told about the moment I realized Jesus loved ME -- died for ME -- while participating in a guided mediation led by Carl when I was a teenager in his youth group in Kissimmee, Florida.  And I recounted the small yet significant steps that had led me to working at Christ Church – a quiet unexpected journey.  Without really realizing it, I had been given the chance to testify to God’s love for me and the ways he was actively and faithfully working in my life. 

I not only remember this as my best day in ministry, but I think back on it as the day I claimed being “in ministry.”  The phrase “in ministry” is interesting, isn’t it? It seems logical that those of us who get paid to work at a church would automatically categorize ourselves as being “in ministry.”  Easy, right?  This wasn’t the case for me. Before the opportunity to speak that morning, my job at the church was just that to me – a job.  I felt very lucky to have it, and enjoyed it. But I had not claimed it as my chance at being “in ministry.”  I don’t preach a sermon every Sunday.  I don’t plan Vacation Bible School for hundreds of children every summer.  But just like during that mediation Carl led me through years ago when I felt Jesus’ unique love for me, I realized God valued me using my skills to help others encounter what our church has to offer – including hearing the Good News.

As believers in Christ one of our main objectives should be rooted in what Jesus commanded us to do: Share the Gospel and make Disciples of Christ.  Be fishers of men (or women, youth, neighbors, mail carriers, grocery store baggers, etc.).   I may have finally claimed being “in ministry” through this opportunity to speak due to my position at the church. God used that experience to speak to ME just as much as I hope he spoke through me.  But hear this. Being a church worker has nothing to do with the ability for any of us to claim being “in ministry” together as the Body of Christ.  My office may be in a church building. Your office may be in a classroom where you study.  Or in a garage where you fix cars.  Or in your home where you raise your children.  Or at the restaurant you frequent every week.  We are all employed by God “in ministry” to do his kingdom work. 

My prayer for you today is that God helps you recognize and claim your own unique place “in ministry.”  Who knows – maybe today can be YOUR best day “in ministry.”  How exciting!

~Teresa Reep Tysinger