A council that cares about those who are exercising ministry on their behalf should take time occasionally to affirm their ministry. A version of the appreciative inquiry could help encourage their ministry in the midst of a very stressful time. A simple way to do this would be to name the large categories of the person’s particular ministry. Then, with that before the council, allow people to spontaneously speak to either personal experiences or incident that they have heard where that person offered ministry and exercised his or her gifts in a way that builds up the Body of Christ.
If a scribe made brief summarizing notes on areas as they were noted, then you could conclude with a litany in which the scribe or perhaps several people one at a time offer thanks for a particular gift of ministry of that staff person. Then alternating between these words of thanks, the rest of the council responds by praying a verse of Psalm 67 after each gift named. (To increase our awareness of how God is working, I would suggest that you substitute the word “church” where “nation” is mentioned. For Israel the nation was the people of God where God’s presence found expression in the same way that we affirm that it can happen in our church.)
By articulating your thanks for this staff person’s ministry in a liturgical fashion, you are raising your appreciation of the person’s work to an act of worship and not just a psychological affirmation.
