There are two central themes to my ministry: transformation and hope. Both are natural outcomes of my theology and I seek to give both concrete expression in worship, religious education, pastoral care, and social ministries.

Theologically speaking, I believe that God works in and through creation. God is profoundly incarnational, present in every moment of existence with a vision of well-being for the world to guide all our choices. God is persuasive, a part of the nature of things, the creative source of possibility and, therefore, with God there is always a new beginning, always a new possibility. This is the wellspring of hope.

If God wills the well-being of creation, then it is not God’s will that people suffer. But neither is God absent in human (or nonhuman) suffering. God is already at work in the next moment, working to transform it, to bring some good out of it. It is this transforming power that was at work in the crucifixion, and this transforming power that the early church recognized and proclaimed in the Christ narrative.

A God whose power is in persuasion is always with us, making suggestions, offering ideas, urging the better choice. This means, however, that we are free to respond however we will. Our choices can be right or wrong, or sometimes in-between, either more right, or more wrong. And if good choices are made by one person after another, one choice after another, until they pile up into something that transforms the world into something better, then bad choices can operate the same way: one person after another, one choice after another, until the world is transformed into something worse (global warming is an example). In other words, our choices matter—and all of this has profound implications for ministry.

If God is persuasively present in every moment—and God works in and through creation—then an openness to and discernment of that presence is central to Christian living. This presence can be nurtured specifically by worship that supports and encourages such awareness, but more broadly, it informs all aspects of ministry.

The transforming power of God made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, reveals how God works to creatively transform even the bleakest situations. Trust in the transforming presence of God with all persons who grieve or suffer in body or mind, and with all nations, even when their actions feed destruction, is the ongoing basis for hope.

In an interconnected, interrelated world, we share with God a responsibility for the goodness of creation; we share with Christ the call to a ministry of justice and peace. Effective ministry is a shared project that understands the deeper relationship between God and creation, that finds God present in all of creation, that recognizes the interdependence of all creation, and that realizes the profound way that God is for all of creation—and then, based on that understanding, acts accordingly, in our dealings with ourselves, within our families and communities, as citizens, and as dwellers on this Earth. In this project, I believe there is no greater guide than Jesus Christ,, whose call to discipleship is as commanding today as it was in the first century, and is as worthy of giving one’s life to.

In conclusion, I turn to Paul, who had much to say on ministry but summed things up well with this: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). In other words: 1) don’t be conformed to this world” means we don’t need to let our past experiences determine who we are and how we behave; instead, we can open ourselves to the creative, transforming presence of God. 2) The “renewing of our minds” is God’s new idea for us now, in this moment. 3) To discern the will of God is to act on the possibility God presents to us. 4) To do what is good and acceptable and perfect is to choose what will lead to the well-being of creation and societies that operate according to the principles of justice and peace.

In Peace,
Rev. Dr. Jeanyne Slettom