Skip to Main Content
Women of the ELCA
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Daily Grace
  • Contact
  • Ministry & Action
    • Discipleship
    • Justice
      • Human Trafficking
      • Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
      • Racial Justice Advocacy
      • Racial Justice Advocacy Network resources
      • Domestic Violence
    • Membership
    • Stewardship
      • Thankofferings
      • Faithful Friends
      • Katie’s Fund
      • Gift Planning
    • Special Initiatives
      • Rachel’s Day
      • Raising Up Healthy Women & Girls
    • Scholarships
      • Lutheran laywomen
      • Lutheran Ordained Ministry
  • Resources
  • About
    • History
    • Executive Board
    • Staff
    • Get Involved
  • Events
  • Belong
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Daily Grace
  • Contact
« Back to All Daily Grace

Ministry in the interruptions

10.1.2015
|
Daily Grace

There is a fountain of flowing water in a garden behind a church building. The youth group dreamed it up after the property committee complained that the teenagers weren’t helping at church.

The youth adopted that plot of ground as a confrontational response. The garden took shape quickly. I remember a three-hour conversation while we waited for the cement to dry. We agreed that some water would be significant. Eventually, a widow donated her husband’s fountain, an act of love and letting go. We cried as a group the day it was installed. A few weeks later, two teenagers were baptized in that particular fountain.

Not all servanthood is done at church. Most of it happens quite by accident. I like to be well-organized. I’m good at making forms and file folders and being focused on task. This, I truly believe, is faithful service both to God and to the mission of the agency. At the same time, when a co-worker approaches your desk and says softly, “Today is the anniversary of my little brother’s death,” you simply stop what you’re doing and listen. Maybe our best ministry happens in the interruptions.

This message was adapted from “Called to Service” written by Diane Marten that first appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.


 

If you are reading “Daily Grace” online, sign up to receive it by email daily.

Share this post

Sign up for Daily Grace

Daily Grace is an on-the-go companion for your journey, offering a faith reflection every day. Encounter God’s extravagant, boundless and often surprising grace by signing up for a daily email message.

Back to home

8765 W. Higgins Rd.

Chicago IL 60631

800-638-3522

[email protected]

Stay In Touch

Sign up for the WELCA Newsletter

Explore WELCA
  • Ministry & Action
  • Daily Grace
  • Resource Library
  • Events
  • Blog
  • News
  • About WELCA
  • Tools For Leaders
  • Publications
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Photos
Explore Publications

Bold Cafe

A Lutheran perspective for women of Christian faith or any woman who is interested in how faith relates to the issues facing women today.

Gather Magazine

A mix of articles, theological reflections, devotions and stories of comfort and challenge that help readers grow in faith.

Cafe Podcast

Subscribe to our podcast:

Click to subscribe

© Copyright 2025 Women of the ELCA. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
© Copyright 2025 Women of the ELCA. All Rights Reserved.