I Have Called You Friends

I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my father. --John 15:15 These words of Jesus to his disciples teach that the mutuality of friendship is at the heart of a Christian community. When baptized into that community, we accept this mutuality and desire to serve others. Kevin Thew Forrester says, 'We can go so far as to say that to be a member of the community entails being a minister. . . Baptism and ministry are two sides of the same coin.' This ministry is the responsibility of all baptized members of the church not merely the ordained. Drawing on experiences of the people in the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, the author challenges the whole church to seek this mutual ministry as the key to its future health and mission.