Christian ministry - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism." It is performed by all Christians. This is distinguished from the "office of minister", to which specific individuals feel a certain vocation

Vocation

A vocation , is a term for an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.-Senses:...

. It can signify this activity as a whole, or specific activities, or organizations within a church dedicated to specific activities. Some ministries are identified formally as such, and some are not; some ministry is directed towards members of the church, and some towards non-members. See also Apostolates

Apostolates

Apostolates are organizations of the Catholic laity devoted to the mission of the Catholic Church.-Explanation:Most understand the term "apostolate" to be synonymous with the term ministry, or outreach, such as "youth ministry." The disambiguation is seen when one considers that within Catholic...

Age-specific ministry

As churches attempt to meet the needs of their congregations, they often separate their members into groups according to age categories. Age-specific groups meet for religious study including Sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

programs, fellowship

Communion (Christian)

The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...

, and other activities. These age divisions may include:

Nursery
Pre-school
Children, generally elementary age
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

students
Youth
Youth ministry
Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as Youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry and is the way in which a faith group, or other religious organization involves and engages with the young people who attend its place of worship, or live in its community...

, generally middle
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

students
College and career, designed for university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

-age students
Adults, which is often broken up into single
Single (relationship)
In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a single person is someone who is not in a relationship or is "unmarried". If a marriage is annulled, however, or it is found to have been void ab initio , and assuming the person was not married previously, that individual is single, rather than...

adults, couples ministry, men's and women's ministries, and senior adults
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...

.

Advantages and disadvantages

There are several advantages to the concept of age-specific ministries.

Many parents / caregivers are glad to allow the church to be in charge of the spiritual enrichment of their children. Similarly, they are used to using programs for the development of their children such as weekday childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...

, preschool, and grade school and enjoy the ability to continue a similar format in church.
These ministries allow churches to provide 'age-appropriate' activities and content to maximize spiritual education and growth as well as peer group fellowship.
Ministries often provide fellowship activities outside of the church service that encourage the involvement of non-church going friends and relatives.

Age-specific ministry does have certain disadvantages, mostly stemming from the separation of children from the primary church functions.

In terms of religious education, the 'socialization' of children into the faith community is one important approach that requires connecting the children and family with the wider congregation.
These ministries may increase the possibility of child abuse within the church as it does increase the amount of time children spend without the supervision of their particular parent or caretaker or the presence of the congregation at large. It is worth noting, however, that many churches hire certified teachers to fill these positions and most perform background checks on anyone that may come into supervisory contact with children.
Certain forms of these ministries reduce the role that "family life" plays in the development of children, because of the separation of differing age groups into differently facilitated programs. In some ministries, the children are also placed separate from the rest of the congregation, such as during Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

and youth programs. Many of these programs, however, take place at different times from the primary church service, and in many churches, only children of elementary school age and younger are separated from the main service to provide more relevant material to their age group.

An alternative to age-specific ministry gaining ground is the concept of inter-generational ministry

Inter-generational ministry (Christian)

Inter-generational or intergenerational ministry is a model of Christian ministry which emphasizes relationships between age groups and encourages mixed-age activities.-Contrast with traditional models:...

, which seeks to include all age and peer groups in primary church functions. Family integrated church

Family Integrated Church

A family integrated church is one in which parents and children attend church services together, children stay all through church services and organised groups and activities for children and youth are non-existent...

es eliminate "all age-graded classes and events."

Creative and performing arts

Nearly all churches feature some form of worship

Christian music

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

music, whether from a choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, or worship band, whether accompanied

Accompaniment

In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...

or a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

. Religious organizations also incorporate other forms of creative and performance arts into their services or programs. These may include:

automotive ministry, a large and growing form of ministry in which local Christian automotive enthusiasts use their cars as a tool of ministry and show them at car shows. The largest Christian Automotive Ministry is Holy Rollerz Christian Car Club (Holy rollerz
Holy Rollerz
Holy Rollerz Christian Car Club is a non-profit Christian ministry started by Brian Wood and Gustavo "Gus" Torres in Kennesaw, Georgia. Since its beginning in 1999, it has grown to be the largest Christian automotive ministry of any kind in the world, with chapters across the United States and...

).
Cowboy ministries such as Thousand Hills Cowboy Church in Kerrville, Texas, have sprung up around the country and feature informal services held in barns or arenas. They offer rodeo events which are free to the public throughout the week such as bullriding, roping, ranch sorting and equestrian events as a tool of ministry.
Worship ministry
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

, with the most common forms being choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

, and contemporary praise and worship.
Drama and theatre ministry
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, which often comes in the form of both small scenes and skits performed for the congregation, and larger works such as Passion play
Passion play
A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....

s and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

dramas.
Creative movement
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...

, which generally incorporates pantomime and American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
Puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...

, including traditional and black light
Black light
A black light, also referred to as a UV light, ultraviolet light, or Wood's lamp, is a lamp that emits ultraviolet radiation in the long-wave range, and little visible light...

forms

Community Service and outreach

Many churches sponsor ministries designed to reach out others on a local and global scale, usually grouped under the heading of missions

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

. There are many organizations which perform missions on a fully funded and organized level, such as North American Mission Board

Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

, operated by the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC).

However, some Christian churches and ministries have evolved to take on a larger role in the community service and global outreach programs. This is evidently exemplified by many of the Christian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

Community service ministries may include a "soup kitchen", homeless ministry

Homeless ministry

Homeless ministry is the intentional interaction between Christians and homeless persons, regardless of their faith. The ministering typically occurs in the environment in which the homeless reside. It may include distribution of provisions such as food, clothing, and blankets...

, crisis center, food pantry, unplanned pregnancy center, senior visitation program, new parent support, Animal Chaplains

Animal chaplains

Animal chaplains community, including pet loss grief support, animal memorial services, praying for animals who are sick or injured, comforting bereaved family members, holding hands with pet owners during surgery or animal euthanasia at a veterinary clinic or animal hospital, and performing...

, or a number of other specialized ministries. These specialized ministries can include formal or informal approaches to intentionally interacting with others, encouraging, counseling, and providing relational care to them.

Sacramental Ministry, Catholic Church

Theologians differentiate between Religious ministry and Apostolates

Apostolates

. Ministry, for Catholics, pertains to the administration of the Sacraments, and their appropriate ministers are as follows:

Baptism Baptism In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...	Any person (even an unbaptized person); preferably a priest or deacon
Confirmation	A bishop, or a priest delegated by him
Reconciliation Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church) In the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is the method by which individual men and women may be freed from sins committed after receiving the sacrament of Baptism...	Priest
Eucharist Eucharist The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...	Consecrated by a priest. The Eucharist may be administered by a priest or deacon, or laypeople in extraordinary circumstances.
Marriage Catholic marriage Catholic marriage, also called matrimony, is a "covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring...	The spouses administer the sacrament to each other (witnessed by the priest).
Holy Orders Holy Orders (Catholic Church) Holy Orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders: bishop, priest, and deacon. The Church regards ordination as a Sacrament. In the phrase "Holy Orders", the word "holy" simply means "set apart for some purpose." The word order designates an established civil body or corporation with a...	Bishop
Anointing of the Sick Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church) Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament of the Catholic Church that is administered to Catholics who because of sickness or old age are in danger of death, even if the danger is not proximate...	Priest

A final, and most proper, use of the term "ministries" pertains to those instituted by the bishop:

Acolyte (May administer the Eucharist)
Lector (May read the readings at Mass, except for the Gospel which is reserve for a priest or deacon)

Ordained ministers are those who have received Holy Orders: deacons, priests, and bishops. Note that a bishop can do anything a priest can do, and a priest can do anything a deacon can do.