24 Aug 2008, Sunday

We thank God that in the recently-completed Youth Camps, over 130 young people responded to the calling to “full-time” ministry as pastors, evangelists, missionaries, etc.  This is very heartening.  At the same time it reminds us how important it is for our church’s on-going ministry and future leadership development that we support these vocations.  Everyone in our church is important and we need the whole church involved in serving the Lord.  Yet the Lord especially calls some to leave “their nets” or their “tax collecting table” to follow the Lord and be able to be sent out unhindered by “civilian pursuits”.  They are the ones on whom we can call anytime or who we can send out wherever the needs are most.   Not every one of us is available to serve every hour of the day.  We have our jobs to worry about.  We cannot take leave from our employers.  Or we have other activities that often take priority over Christian service.  But our church needs many who are “employed” in the church so that we have most of their time.  They will pastor our churches.  They will also be those who can set apart time to be trained so that they can equip our members to serve.   They can be sent to the mission fields to plant and to nurture new churches.  If I want to send some of us to Thailand, not many can say we will go.  In fact, I can hardly find one from our Cathedral who will be able to go now.   We are not talking about going for a short visit.  We are talking about going there for 12 years or the rest of your serving life, to learn the language, to know the culture and to be involved in preaching the gospel to the Thai people.  We are indeed planning to send 2 pastoral staff from the Diocese to go later this year.  But these two have served “full-time” in their church for nearly 10 years.  Now they are ready to be sent out.  They are committed to obey.  They will go.  So while we value every ministry of our members, the church is desperately short of full-time priests and pastors.  As bishop, one of my main responsibilities is to recruit, train, mentor and send out priests and pastors.  I will put strong effort into this task.  Within 10 years, we will have priests and pastors to look after all our churches and also some to be sent out to plant new churches within our Diocese and beyond.  From All Saints Cathedral alone, we pray and aim to produce 20 priests and pastors for the Diocese in the coming 10 years.  I ask all our members to support this goal.  Encourage.  Support by your prayers and giving.  And honor those who labor amongst us.  1Tim 5:17  The elders(priests) who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.  How can we say we honor God, if we do not at the same time honor God’s servants?