Happy New Year! We hope you are well-rested (or at least semi-rested) and remain healthy as we look towards Epiphany this week and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord next week.
As we settle into the first days of the new year, we want to know: What was your favorite Ministry Monday episode of 2020? Just like we did in 2019, we are going to share the fan favorite episode from this year, and showcase it in January. So email us and let us know what episode you liked the most! (And if you can’t remember the title, simply describe the topic to us and we can help.) Email us at ministrymonday@npm.org. We’ve extended the deadline to vote until next Monday, January 11.
Today is a big day for NPM as we are going live to give announcements to you, the membership! Today we are going live at 9 am Eastern Time and 12 noon Eastern Time (that’s 9 am Pacific time for you west coasters). We have some announcements to make for our membership, and if you’re an NPM member, you owe it to yourself to listen in.
If you are listening to this episode after Monday, don’t worry. Head on over to our YouTube channel, youtube.com/npmlivestream, to watch all of the replays.
And now, let’s begin.
I once had a cantor who recently had a baby. She wanted to minister quickly after her child was born, but balancing two children with varying work schedules was a constant challenge for her. I told her that we would welcome her back as a minister in any way that her schedule would allow.
One morning, her husband had an unexpected work commitment, so she brought her toddler and infant with her to church. They were both incredibly well-behaved until the preparation of the gifts, but this didn’t stop my cantor. With her toddler next to her leg and her infant on her hip, she sang “How Great Thou Art”. She looked at her infant as she sang, “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made….” There was not a dry eye in the house. She ministered to all of us in multiple ways that day, and she reminded me of the power of lay leadership.
You know, we are so quick to cling to the role of the clergy, I think we often forget the presence of God that lives within us and flows through us as we minister.
And that is the conversation we’re having today. I sat down with Brother Louis Canter to discuss the importance of Lay Ecclesial ministry, a term that is either fresh or incredibly well-worn in your local diocesan vocabulary. Brother Louis believes that the key to the church’s future lies within the lay ministers who serve the church with their time, talent and treasures, big and small:
SHOW NOTES
BIO- Brother Louis E. Canter
Brother E. Louis Canter, OEF serves as a Pastoral Assistant for two parishes in the Lakeland Florida area. He is a composer with OCP, WLP and ILP publishers and belongs to an Ecumenical Franciscan Community.
To listen to Brother Louis’s episode, “Standing in the Shadows of the Saints,” listen here.
Brother Louis also offered a “Thursday Thoughts at 3” reflection for NPM titled “Music, Cancer & Recovery: Body, Mind and Spirit”. You can watch it here.
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