In 1971, I was a young college student beginning to consider what life had to offer beyond girls, money, and fun. I had been coerced into driving a carload of youth to the Joplin District Conference. (Something I would not encourage a 20-year-old to do today!) I admit it; I was out of touch with "church life." The conference was in the process of electing a new district president. I leaned over to my friend sitting next to me and said, "Who is that? I don’t recognize him," referring to an older gentleman sitting along the side of the sanctuary.

My friend replied, "That old relic? He’s the new caretaker for the campgrounds, and we’re about to elect him district president." That was my introduction to Noble Gault, who would become my mentor and my friend.

I was sitting next to Noble in the High Priest Quorum in 1986 when a document was read to the quorum. As President Tyree was reading the paragraph on what we now refer to as the "ordination of women," Noble gripped my knee so tight with his hand I thought my circulation had been cut off. With tears streaming down his face, he leaned over toward me and said, "I’ve waited all my life for this moment." In that instant, all self-doubt was erased and with clarity and purpose, I knew how I would respond to the prophetic voice among us. Noble died a few months later.

My college friend was right. Noble was a relic. A relic is something that is a link to the past. It is steeped in culture and geography. It points to a particular place in time, yet it remains timeless. It tells a story. Held in the light of present and future, relics often invoke wonder and mystery. They are precious and priceless. They sometimes provide clues to value systems, universal understandings, and theological perspectives.

At other times, relics lead us into an everyday world of joy and sorrow, work and rest, pain and healing. Relics enrich our lives. Relics spark the surprise of discovery and the enthusiasm for adventure. Relics lead us into worlds where we would otherwise never venture and introduce us to people, places, eras, and ideas that change our world view and broaden our understanding of the here and now. Relics link the lessons of the past to our hope for the future. Relics speak to us on an emotional, intellectual, spiritual, theological, cultural, and physical level. Because of their unique link, relics are always relevant.

Noble served in my life as a precious link to the message and ministry of Jesus Christ. He was a witness of the timeless and timely story of the gospel. He sometimes filled me with wonder through the prophetic imagination, while at other times grounded me in the mud and muck of everyday life as we traveled the district, shared in hospital ministry, fixed plumbing, built cabins, and repaired campground equipment. Through Noble’s encouragement, I developed a lifelong love for the exploration of scripture and the discovery of the divine in unexpected places.

We need more relics like Noble.

When I hear faithful ministers express a sense of loss of direction and focus because they are no longer serving in a key administrative position and wonder, "What do I do now?" I find myself thinking that the church needs a corps of seasoned ministers who will serve as relics within congregational life: a people linking the mission and message of the gospel to the everyday lives of our people—mentoring, nurturing, leading, engaging. Visioning men and women can become wellsprings out of which new generations of ministers are born and cared for, encouraged and challenged, strengthened and tempered to carry forward the story of what God has done and is doing in Jesus.

I would like to relate this relic image and how it can inform the ministry of the high priest to trends I am seeing within our congregations.

It has been my privilege to participate in a wide range of discussions over the past two years in my role as director of Congregational Ministries, with congregational leaders, young adults, jurisdictional officers, and members and friends at reunions, high priest gatherings, and congregational meetings. I have also tried to research a number of resources in an attempt to analyze, understand, and project how we might best respond to the needs and challenges before us as a faithful expression of the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in our world today. Here are some observations from conversations, researched studies, and anecdotal data that I believe speak to the quorum today.

• Relic high priests are needed in every congregation to identify, recruit, coach, encourage, and nurture faithful, authentic discipleship among the members and especially the priesthood, linking the calling ministry of Christ to our day and time.

There is reluctance on the part of many to serve in key leadership positions within our congregations. Many young adults express the opinion that active priesthood ministry is too demanding and unmanageable; the boundaries between personal, professional, and ministerial expression are blurred and the variety of leadership roles available within the local congregation are so broad that they bring unreasonable expectations and confusing standards of evaluation. They lament that with a lack of mentoring and training, faith formation, and leadership skill development, there is little motivation to volunteer—and even when they do, their gifts are not appreciated or accepted by the congregation. This parallels a study sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools regarding a concern for the competence of women and men entering ministry who do not have the talents, skills, aptitude, or knowledge to become effective leaders. Research found that "students came to seminaries with low levels of religious literacy and with high personal therapeutic needs."

• Relic high priests are needed to mentor young adults in outward expressions of servant ministry and inward reflection on life-giving themes linking the servant leadership model of Christ to current ministry practice.

Congregational members who desperately want to support the ongoing mission of the church sometimes feel that young adults lack maturity, are unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions, have poor leadership and interpersonal skills, and fail to keep traditional ethical norms and boundaries. Some have expressed despair at their lack of grounding in scripture and doctrine. Others have rightly expressed discouragement for never having been mentored or "trained" in servant ministry and priesthood function. Let’s face it, leaders within congregations often are not efficient and effective models of decision making, communication, gift enhancement, and leadership development. Other denominations face the same concern. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. recently cited concern for "the unacceptable failure rates on standard ordination exams, especially in biblical exegesis, theological competence, and church polity."

• Relic high priests are needed who are willing to see congregations, communities, and cultures with "new eyes" and cultivate relationships of inclusion and compassion as seen in the prophetic vision and pastoral style of Jesus as he modeled inclusivity, affirmation, and compassion.

While we preach a gospel of inclusion and compassion, the worth of all persons, and the giftedness of all, our practice tells a different story. Leadership within the church is increasingly reflecting the abilities and gifts of women, but statistical data will confirm that as a movement we are still struggling with embracing and nurturing leadership irrespective of ethnicity, generation, sexual orientation, culture, or economic background.

• Relic high priests are needed who understand the sacrificial nature and divine mandate of responding to the call of God in our world today and will passionately link congregations and congregants to the cross in whose shadow we stand.

In conversations with leaders and priesthood, I often hear expressions of ambivalence and burnout regarding the demands of ministry. I would estimate that fewer than 30 percent of us view our function and work in ministry as vitally important, significant in the lives of those around us and in the life of the church, and as role models for those beginning their ministry and leadership. While serving as stake president in three different jurisdictions, I would regularly ask pastors to share challenges and concerns that impacted their ministry. Pastors frequently thought they were mismatched in their role, had difficulty motivating priesthood, felt poor support from family and friends, placed upon themselves grossly unreasonable expectations, despaired at the amount of pettiness and in-fighting within congregational families, and were often blocked by controlling members. Yet these pastors often tirelessly engaged in pastoral and administrative ministry while advancing demanding careers, caring for families, and participating in community leadership. Congregational pastors and leaders need seasoned ministers around them who nurture, encourage, instruct, protect, and counsel through their own selfless giving to the cause. Being commissioned in Doctrine and Covenants 104, I am surprised that I do not see more high priests serving in congregational nurseries, engaging in Aaronic ministry when appropriate and, as necessary, seeking out youth and young people for friendship and support, actively embracing and promoting the organizational mission and goals of the church worldwide, and volunteering for congregational and community teaching and training opportunities.

I have been richly blessed in the opportunities for ministry that have been mine while serving in the Community of Christ. I will confess that it is my intention to "continue always to be aware of the need to render unreserved and fully accountable service-—good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" until my one-hundredth birthday. Then, like Jethro of old, I think I may return to my homeland. And if my great-grandkids call me a relic, maybe that won’t be so bad.

(2003)