Jesus in his bodily humanity was about to leave this world but it was better that He should go. If He had merely stayed on, His bodily presence mediating as it did the very presence of God to the world, would be confined to the place He happened to be at any one time. However having ascended to heaven He now `fills all things' and `is with' His people `always unto the end of the world'. His humanity is now mediated through the Holy Spirit in the midst of His Church so that in meeting with Him in His people - His body - the world might meet with God. 

Through the Holy Spirit then the Church is to share in Christ's ministry. 

First it is called to share in his prophetic ministry by bringing the Word of God to bear upon the affairs of nations peoples and individuals so they can understand the purposes of God and turn back to his ways of truth, justice and mercy. 

Second it must share in the priestly ministry of Christ as it - in its gatherings - confesses its own sins and the sins of the world, praying for forgiveness and ministering the presence of God to all people in its worship.

Third it must share in the kingly ministry of Christ as it proclaims the gospel to all peoples, calling for faith, repentance and obedience and warning of the coming kingdom of God when nations and individuals will face God's judgement. 

The `minister' in all ages is to work and pray for his congregation that they might be inspired to share in this ministry of the body of Christ. 

This means, first, he must be someone who is confident of the truth of the Bible and is able from its pages show to his congregation how its story, preaching. visions, wise sayings, letters and preaching are focused in the One who bridged the gulf between humankind and God. To demonstrate its relevance to modern world he must be someone who knows the way the world is in the full global sense and also know the very personal ways the modern world touches the lives of his congregation. He must inspire His people to have a global vision whilst acting effectively at their own local level.

Then, second, he must be a person of prayer who daily humbles himself before the foot to the cross, confessing his own sins and those of his congregation, praying that the community in which he is placed might find the forgiveness of Christ. 

Then, third, he must lead the congregation to ways to make the call of God on human life known so that men and women repent and turn back to God in preparation for His coming kingdom. 

As Christ embraced - as it were - all kinds and conditions of people, so the minister has to have a wide embrace. If he has a favourite group because they sing his kind of tune, then he will alienate others. He has to distinguish between what is his own taste and what is fundamentally right and wrong. Just because something is not his `cup of tea' does not mean that it is wrong. 

Trusting as much authority and initiative as possible to others he must inspire others by example, teaching and prayer to share in the work of ministry. 

That ministry - in Christ - must always seek to make the bridge between the Word of God and the world. 

No doubt the 21st Century is going to witness increasing turmoil in the world at large and greater breakdown of community values at the local level. This will happen in the context of ever increasing information technology giving enormous opportunities for good and evil. Using the best in modern technology the Church leader needs to be able to interpret the Word of God and demonstrate its increasing relevance as world history moves toward its climax. At the local level the Church needs to provide the lost sense of community that the surrounding society longs for. 

So the use of technology must never become such an obsession that he forgets to cultivate his relationship with God and so be able to communicate the presence of God to those whom he meets day by day in face to face contact. 

If the national churches are still surviving in a meaningful way, ministry in those Churches, will continue to provide an ever open door of opportunity into the homes of non Church members who need the service of a minister when there has been a death. It cannot be overemphasised the enormous good (or bad) that can be done to the cause of Christ by a minister when handling such situations. He needs to combine a sympathetic ear, with confidence about what he is doing, with an ability to communicate the presence of God in both the funeral visit and the funeral service. It is this writer's experience that although many outreach campaigns have borne some fruit, the bread and butter work of the minister in dealing with such situations brings a greater harvest in the long term. He cannot do this by himself but needs the backing of a sensitive, non judgmental and sympathetic congregation to keep in touch with people thus contacted. 

Since no minister is going to fulfil all he or his congregation would want from him, he has to be prepared for criticism - both just and unjust - so that he learns from his mistakes and is able to bear the pain, without complaining, of ignorant grumbling that any person in the public eye is bound to receive. 

Sharing the heart and mind of Christ the minister must be adaptable to people and circumstances, so that like the Apostle Paul he can adjust to different situations in the rapidly changing world in which he finds himself:

1 Cor 9:20-23 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (NIV)