Cultivating a holy imagination: Ministry in the 21st century

What is pastoral ministry like these days, and how is it being shaped in new ways? The Century talked to pastors about the challenges and surprises of their early years in ministry. This interview is the eleventh in a series. Lisa Yebuah attended Duke Divinity School. She is pastor of inviting ministries at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, a large, 200-year-old congregation in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.

What excites you most about ministry these days?

There’s an amazing group of young people within our church family. They’ve shared with the clergy their holy restlessness about God’s call upon their lives. It’s a treasure to watch how God is moving through our student ministry, and it’s inspiring to listen to the ways these youth narrate their “Samuel stories.” When they recount the moment that God’s glory broke into and interrupted their ordinary lives, I feel confident that the church of Jesus Christ will continue to have faithful messengers stewarding the good news. This excites me.