Servant church The concept of “church as servant” surfaces readily as we continue to explore and reflect on the church’s many dimensions. Service is an appealing attribute, and in theory, it is one area on which most in the church can agree. However, when we come to the question of how each person is called to serve, and how that service is carried out in practice, that conversation escalates to heated debate. The echoes of that are heard from parish to monastery as the way we live out the gospel command is tolerated in some cases, supported in others, and sometimes vigorously challenged. On occasion we may be very good at serving others but have yet to develop the maturity or humility to let others serve us. Servanthood should be a very simple thing, but our human nature seems determined to make it more complicated than it should be. The late Cardinal Avery Dulles offered that the so-called Servant Songs in Isaiah are applicable to the Church as well as to Christ. Of the Servant it is said “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Is 42:6–7). And the Servant describes his mission in words that Jesus himself would quote: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Is 61:1; cf. Lk. 4:16–19). (Models of the Church,Exp Rei ed. [New York: Image, 1991], 100) For many who would serve others in just this way, the challenge these days can be to avoid being caught. Those who would visit the sick and walk the final journey with the dying (but who are not ordained) must be careful to not be called “chaplain,” to avoid any conversation that might bear a similarity to a confession, and to avoid touching in a way that might be considered a blessing or an anointing. Working to help liberate women who feel trapped in abusive marriages can provoke the wrath of diocesan officials who rank the sanctity of marriage over the suffering of women. If you’re a layperson, proclaiming liberty to captives is fine so long as you don’t preach. Caution can get in the way of service. Still, we find ways to bring light into darkness. In this issue of ML, Paul Mast describes rites for reconsecrating and reinitiating victims of clergy abuse back into faith communities. These rites for victims are based on the concepts of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Ron Raab offers a poetic reflection on the connection between vesture, humility, and poverty. Bruce Janiga and John D. Barry explore Logos Bible Software 4 from the perspective of how it functions to serve those in the ministry of the word of God. Mary Lou Devlinshares how guided meditation is effective in ministering to support groups of adults struggling with unemployment. In all of these, models of service are being developed in new and unusual ways. We will need the new and unusual as we forge the path ahead, because if anything at all is clear, it is that traditional models of service no longer fit. The call to serve is no less compelling, but how that service is applied and lived out continues to evolve. The root of it is certain, and it eclipses all our arguments over translations, presiders, other ministers, and ritual form: So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (Jn 13:12–15; brackets in original) ML We’re Still Green: ML remains a “Paper Hero” on Green America’s Paper Project website (www.coopamerica.org/programs/woodwise/publishers/heroes/index.cfm) because it is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. SUBSCRIBE NOW! What do YOU Think? Send an e-mail to ML Editor or post an entry on the ML Current Issue Discussion Board. (All submissions become the property of RPI and may be edited for length.)