What is Gospel of Life Ministries?
The ministry of the pastor is
demanding. It includes the need to address sensitive
and controversial issues, and a pastor can feel
alone and fearful in doing so. Amidst the demands of
his ministry, therefore, he needs support and
encouragement from three directions: from his
bishop, from his congregation, and from his fellow
pastors.
It is this encouragement,
especially from fellow pastors, that the
Gospel of Life Ministries ministry was founded to
provide. Specifically, it provides encouragement to
carry out that dimension of pastoral ministry that
involves the defense of human life from abortion
and euthanasia.
This particular dimension
touches on two of the most urgent moral crises of
our day. Responding to those crises is not something
added onto the life and ministry of the
pastor from the outside. It is, instead, a response
that flows from the very meaning of being a pastor,
a Christian, and a human person. The Gospel of Jesus
Christ is one and indivisible; hence, the Gospel of
Christ is the Gospel of Life.
This very fact causes some to
ask whether "Gospel of Life Ministries" isn't
redundant.
First of all, the name
Gospel of Life is intended to convey the truth
that being for life is integral and essential
to the ministry of the Gospel. This is not a
ministry that seeks to be some sort of separate and
elite group of pastors who claim to be more pro-life
than all the rest. Rather, it seeks to celebrate the
dedicated efforts, so often hidden and unknown, of
pastors who heroically promote the culture of life
across the nation.
Secondly, there are many
Christian ministries and organizations that
highlight a facet of the Gospel to which all
Christians are also called. Such highlighting is
meant to be a stimulus to all to respond to a call
that belongs to all. Therefore, the Salvation
Army is not the only one called to proclaim
salvation, nor is that what their name implies.
Youth for Christ do not claim to be the only young
people who follow the Lord and Child Evangelism
Fellowship does not claim to be the only Christian
fellowship reaching children with the Gospel.
Examples can be multiplied. Gospel of Life
Ministries is another such example. It is precisely
because all Christians and all other people
of conscience are called to be for life that
this ministry exists.
It is also helpful to reflect
on the fact that there are groups called Doctors for
Life, Nurses for Life, Pharmacists for Life, Lawyers
for Life, Students for Life, Cops for Life, and
countless others. But why, one might ask, should we
need such groups? Aren't all doctors supposed
to be for life? Yet the very reason we have a
pro-life movement at all is because we have an
immense tragedy on our hands, and need the skills of
every profession to restore protection to all human
life. In that light, it would be strange indeed if
there were not an effort called "Gospel of Life!"
What is the Mission of Gospel
of Life Ministries?
The purpose of Gospel of Life
is to bring Evangelical and Catholic Christians
together in the cause of advocating for and
defending life. Abortion has enjoyed
disproportionate and unprecedented public support
from governmental institutions, the broadcast media
and educational institutions. However, the vast
majority of Christians, across the denominational
spectrum oppose any abortion on moral grounds. Until
now, judges and politicians have not recognized the
vast support among people of faith for the pro-life
cause because pro-lifers have not made their voices
known in the political, legal or economic arena.
Gospel of Life Ministries is committed to equipping
and training Christians of all denominations (and
none at all) to unite together in the effort to
build a Culture of Life. Catholics cannot do it
alone and Protestants cannot do it alone – but
together they become a formidable force for life.
Our purpose is not to add another structure or
Para-church organization to the pro-life effort. Its
purpose, instead, is to infuse the structures that
already exist with the vigor, enthusiasm, and very
best resources to carry out the mission of defending
life.
The Church is the only
institution that has a Divine guarantee that it will
prevail over the culture of death. "The gates of
hell will not prevail against it," Jesus said in
Matthew.16:18. When we hear these words, we usually
think, "The Church will survive all the attacks
launched against her," and certainly that is true.
Upon further reflection, however, we realize that in
a battle, a gate does not run out into the
battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, the gate
stands still and defends the city against the enemy
attacking it! When the Lord says the gates of hell
will not prevail against the Church, He means that
the Church is taking the initiative and
storming the gates! Those gates of hell cannot
withstand the power of heaven; gates of sin melt in
the presence of saving grace; gates of death fall in
the presence of eternal life; gates of falsehood
collapse in the presence of living truth; gates of
violence fall in the presence of divine love. These
are the gifts with which Christ has equipped His
Body, the Church.
To fully exercise those gifts
in response to the problems of abortion and
euthanasia, therefore, does not so much require more
structure as it does more spirit, more awareness,
more courage, more determination to use both the
means and the opportunities we have! That is what
Gospel of Life Ministries is all about. From the
heart of the Church, it is a movement of pastors and
committed lay Christians, seeking to help the rest
of the Church to use her full strength against the
most devastating attacks on human life in our day.
Gospel of Life Ministries
identifies three avenues through which its overall
goal is achieved. First is the networking of pastors
who are particularly active in pro-life work. Our
newsletters and website have a section that
exemplifies what pastors are doing about abortion.
Pastors and other Christian workers are put in
contact with each other across the nation to share
ideas, resources and experiences concerning
effective pro-life ministry. Pastors and Church
leaders who may feel alone or isolated because of
their special emphasis on life issues are assured
that they are never alone.
A second aspect of the mission
is to assist pastors who may be hesitant about
addressing abortion and euthanasia. By means of
literature and tapes, seminars and direct personal
assistance, Gospel of Life Ministries can help a
pastor to identify his fears, uncertainties, or
misconceptions about the issues involved or about
the pro-life movement itself. One of our
publications, for example, is Addressing Abortion
with Confidence. It identifies common fears
clergy have in this area, and discusses ways to
overcome them.
The third aspect of our
mission is to assist pastors to relate to pro-life
organizations, and vice versa. There is an often
confusing and overwhelming myriad of pro-life groups
in the United States. The influx of literature, as
good as it may be, can be dizzying. How does a busy
pastor, church leader or Sunday School teacher sort
out what the initiatives, activities, and strategies
of the movement are? How can he know what resources
he can rely on in his church, and what strategies of
particular groups are in accord with the pastoral
plan and teaching of the Church? Gospel of Life
Ministries can provide this type of guidance. Gospel
of Life Ministries knows intimately the philosophy
and strategies of pro-life groups both big and
small, as well as the persons behind them. Our
ministry maintains communication, personal contact
and good relations with all such groups. In our
newsletter, we seek to summarize suggested
strategies and resources for busy pastors. We are,
furthermore, regularly present at all national
gatherings of pro-life leaders in which strategies
for the movement are formulated.
Not only does our ministry
assist the pastor to work with the pro-life groups,
but it assists the pro-life groups to work with
their pastors. From the beginning of Gospel of Life
Ministries, there has been strong support from the
laity, and the ministry has lay auxiliary members.
Many complain that pastors do not speak enough about
abortion. Gospel of Life Ministries actively assists
lay leaders and groups to formulate realistic
expectations and work constructively with their
pastors. Some of our brochures, tapes and seminars,
in fact, address this theme.
The Clergy Commitment Pledge
Every pastor is "for life" by
definition of his calling as an evangelist and
teacher of the Gospel, and we therefore do not put a
heavy emphasis on recruiting "members."
Nevertheless, thousands of pastors across the United
States have signed the Clergy Commitment Pledge,
which expresses the spirit of our ministry. The text
follows, along with a few explanatory comments.
