Roy Phillips of Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul is the minister whose preaching and leadership inspired me to pursue the professional ministry. His recent book, Transforming Liberal Congregations , from which Carole read earlier, describes his vision of the ministry of the laity, a vision that is gradually becoming reality in the congregation he serves. Committee work in that church is coming to be reframed as ministry. This way, everyone is more and more seeing their service, both in and outside the church, as related to a personal call to ministry, something that grows out of their own spiritual development. I would like to spend some time this morning defining spiritual development in my own words.
Spirituality is very hard to be articulate about.
But it is important to talk about it so we can get a better grasp of what it is. It is through our spiritual growth that our own ministry becomes apparent. Rather than quoting anyone on this, I will tell you simply what I think spiritual growth involves. First it means to allow ourselves to feel life deeply. We often become cut off from our feelings in life because they are painful and we need to protect ourselves.