When we Minister, Something Stirs – Helen Drewery

Originally published on 3rd October 2023

Sometimes, during Meeting, I get a sense that there is spoken ministry bubbling up in the room, but I don’t know who it will be channeled through. I find myself wanting to inwardly encourage whoever is wrestling with whether to speak.

And there are times when distinct thoughts, images, ideas come to me and I have to try to discern whether I am being led to stand and speak, or whether the message is just for me. Sitting with it for a while usually resolves it one way or the other. It will either drift away or become more pressing. And yes, it can get to the point of ‘quaking’. It’s quite different from the normal feeling of having something to say in a conversation or at a conference. Usually the thoughts originate in something I have read, heard, seen or thought during the week, but they somehow rearrange themselves and I see a new perspective in them.

Many years ago, there was a wise member of my Meeting who used to say about some experience, “There’s ministry in that!” Often it was just a tiny thing, but enough to stimulate spiritual reflection, out of which might come words of thankfulness, compassion or challenge.

Helen Drewery