Context and Location
Affect Ministry
For Better Or Worse

The context and location for holy Listening...and other minstry activities...have physical boundaries.

Whether you are doing...

And where it takes place is crucial to prevent misunderstanding on the part of either person about what is to take place.

Inappropriate context and location lead to behavior that undermines the goals of ministry.

And at such times...the minister is literally out of bounds. 

Unless the minister is visiting someone in a hospital or a prison -- or some other place the person cannot leave -- personal contacts should take place on the minister's turf. 

For example, priests and religious sent for treatment were often doing what they thought was ministry in a contradictory setting such as we saw in catholic campus ministry.

And you can see the same contradiction between context and ministry activity... when a pastor offers spiritual direction to a seminarian  over romantic candle lit dinners.

The contexts of these examples give double and maybe triple messages. However...one thing is clear...The ministers' definitions of ministry were strictly private...hidden agendas.  And the cost was great.

Do your own ministry evaluation...before someone else does.

From context and location you can return to professional boundaries.

Or you can...