How Can Church Members Help Create Greater Unity in the Life of a Congregation? - Ask Ligonier

Summary4 min read

Episode Overview

Episode Title: How Can Church Members Help Create Greater Unity in the Life of a Congregation?
Podcast: Ask Ligonier
Host: Nathan W. Bingham
Guest: Rev. Joel Kim, President and Assistant Professor of New Testament, Westminster Seminary California
Date: September 18, 2025

Main Theme:
This episode explores how everyday church members can actively foster unity within their congregation. Rev. Joel Kim draws on personal experience, scriptural insight, and practical wisdom to answer the question: "How can church members help create greater unity in the life of a congregation?"

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ministry as Relationship (00:34)

Teaching & Preaching: Rev. Kim acknowledges the centrality of teaching and preaching for unity, but emphasizes that ministry goes beyond sharing information:

"Ministry is a relationship... there is an interesting description of ministry foundation in the writings of Paul in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 2." — Rev. Joel Kim (00:34)
Pauline Analogies: Drawing from Paul’s letter, ministry is likened both to a father figure (teaching, admonishing, modeling) and a mother figure (nurturing with selfless love).

The Mother’s Love Analogy (00:55–02:09)

Personal Story: Rev. Kim recounts a memory with his wife just after their daughter’s birth:

"She turns to me like 4 o'clock in the morning and she said, 'Joel, isn't Anna beautiful?'... I turned to my wife and perhaps this is not the most encouraging, but simply said 'No, actually not at 4 o'clock in the morning, maybe 6 o'clock.'" — Rev. Joel Kim (01:18)
Underlying Point: Such unconditional, persistent love characterizes the attitude church members should have toward one another—difficult to cultivate, but foundational for unity.

Practical Ways to Foster Unity

1. Praying for Others (02:10–02:42)

Practical Step:

"We should pray for others... I know many people who have a list and catalog of names of church people, whether well known to him or her, or not, simply praying for them, just recounting them in your prayers and remembering their names goes a long way in drawing out affection..." — Rev. Joel Kim (02:11)

2. Memorizing Names and Stories (02:43–03:29)

Intentional Connection:

"Making every effort to memorize their names... For many who are especially on the periphery of the congregation, to be known and seen is an amazing thing." — Rev. Joel Kim (02:43)
Advice from Upbringing:

"What I was encouraged to do was not to mingle right after service with the people we know, but search out the people we haven’t met." — Rev. Joel Kim (03:17)
Metaphor:

"I think the phrase is slow walk through the parking lot, simply meaning your intention there is not to get to your car or to meet friends, but to meet those that Lord brings into your life during that time." — Rev. Joel Kim (03:23)

3. Hospitality (03:30–04:30)

Power of Invitation:

"My mother's gift as a pastor's wife was hospitality... bringing people into our spaces and homes... Ministry is about sharing one's life with one another because the Lord has saved us into a community that's referred to as not only the body but also the family." — Rev. Joel Kim (03:30)
Community as Family:

"Family gathering is an important part of how we encourage [and] stretch love one another..." — Rev. Joel Kim (04:20)
Low Barriers:
Rev. Kim stresses that these actions—prayer, hospitality, intentional interaction—are accessible for everyone and do not require extraordinary effort.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Unconditional Love:

"There is a unique love that Paul is trying to tap into when he talks about how ministry among people is like a nursing mother ministering to her child. That element oftentimes is very difficult to find in churches."
— Rev. Joel Kim (01:58)
On Being Seen:

"For us to make that extra effort to know their name and their history and past is a wonderful way of ministering to one another."
— Rev. Joel Kim (02:51)
On Everyday Unity:

"These are some things that many of us can do without too many efforts or difficulties."
— Rev. Joel Kim (04:35)

Important Timestamps

00:04–00:34: Introduction and posing of the central question
00:34–01:54: Father and mother analogies in ministry, personal story on a mother’s love
02:09–02:42: The importance of prayer for members
02:43–03:29: Memorizing names and slow-walking to meet new people
03:30–04:30: The gift of hospitality and sharing life as a family

Summary

Rev. Joel Kim encourages church members to actively foster unity by embracing a nurturing, familial approach to ministry—practicing intentional prayer, learning names, connecting with those on the fringes, and embodying hospitality. Through biblical analogy, personal anecdote, and practical wisdom, he emphasizes that genuine relationship, consistent prayer, and welcoming community are at the heart of congregational unity. These are accessible acts that not only strengthen communal bonds but also reflect the love of Christ within the church.

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Transcript5 lines

[00:04]
A
How can church members help create greater unity in the life of a congregation? This week on the Ask Ligonier Podcast, we are recording live from Ligonier's 2025 national conference and we're joined by Reverend Joel Kim, who is President and Assistant professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary, California. Reverend Kim, how can church members help create greater unity in the life of a Congreg?
[00:34]
B
Ministry is a relationship I recognize that many of us who are in pastoral ministry or seeking pastoral ministry, oftentimes we think of intellectual ideas and information shared with one another. And certainly teaching and preaching, as well as encouragements to one another in the Word is a major portion of what we do as congregation together. But there is an interesting description of ministry foundation in the writings of Paul in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 2. One of the things he talks about is that there are analogies that can be given to pastoral ministry and therefore by extension ministering to one another. And the analogies are simply being a father figure and a mother figure. Father figure in the sense that he is teaching, admonishing and encouraging and modeling for the family, but just as importantly that as a mother figure and the specific discussion is how he ministered among them as a nursing mother takes care of her child. And what's important here is about a mother's love, which is very unique. I remember when our daughter was born and my wife was feeding her in the middle of the night and she turns to me like 4 o' clock in the morning and she said joel, isn't Anna beautiful? And she was probably a week old and I, being a first time dad, try to get up with her as much as I can, though I was completely unhelpful and I turned to my wife and perhaps this is not the most encouraging, but simply said no, actually not at 4 o' clock in the morning, maybe 6 o'.
[02:09]
A
Clock.
[02:09]
B
There is a unique love that Paul is trying to tap into when he talks about how ministry among people is like a nursing mother ministering to her child. That element oftentimes is very difficult to find in churches. I'm not saying it's absent, but it's not an easy thing for any one of us to do. So though I'm limited in terms of my understanding of how we can encourage one another, I will say that on the one hand we should pray for others. I know many people who have a list and catalog of names of church people, whether well known to him or her, or not simply praying for them, just recounting them in your prayers and remembering their names goes a long way in drawing out affection that you have as Christ sees them. Second thing is making every effort to memorize their names. I know that sounds like much, and I'm not the best person at memorizing faces and names, but for many who are there, many who are especially on the periphery of the congregation, to be known and seen is an amazing thing. And for us to make that extra effort to know their name and their history and past is a wonderful way of ministering to one another. One of the things that many of us, especially growing up in a pastor's family, what I was encouraged to do was not to mingle right after service with the people we know, but search out the people we haven't met. There are so many people in our congregation that have been attending for years that I have not yet met. And here the encouragement is I think the phrase is slow walk through the parking lot, simply meaning your intention there is not to get to your car or to meet friends, but to meet those that Lord brings into your life during that time. And having a time with them is such an important one. And then last thing, and there are many more, I'm sure that can be added by way of wisdom. But hospitality. My mother's gift as a pastor's wife was hospitality, I think. And in terms of bringing people into our spaces and homes, you inviting them into our very living room to share lives together. And ministry is about sharing one's life with one another because the Lord has saved us into a community that's referred to as not only the body but also the family. And family gathering is an important part of how we encourage Stretch love one another, and I think these are some things that many of us can do without too many efforts or difficulties.
[04:47]
A
Thanks for listening to Ask Ligonier with me, Nathan W. Bingham. If you enjoyed it, please share it on social media. Tell your family or friends and leave a review on your favorite podcast app because your recommendations and reviews really do help people discover the podcast. And if you have a Biblical question that you'd like us to consider for a future episode, leave us a voicemail by calling 1-800-607-9386. That's 1-800-607-938 6. If you live outside the U.S. you can always record your question using your smartphone and email it to us@askligoniervmigonier.org.