Bryan Gentry is a writer and editor who works in university communications. His work has appeared in university publications, magazines and newspapers for more than 20 years. He earned his English degree at Southern Virginia University and an MBA at the University of Lynchburg. In the Church, he has served as a missionary (in Nevada and California), a Primary chorister and teacher, a ward clerk, Seminary and Gospel Doctrine teacher, and in elders quorum presidencies. He and his wife and children live in South Carolina.
Enter Bryan…
Nearly every day I drive past a house in my neighborhood with the most amazing garden. Trees, shrubs, and flowers with leaves and blossoms in a variety of shapes and colors are placed artistically over a well-manicured mulch bed. The lush grass is always trimmed perfectly. Colorful steppingstones provide the perfect accents.
When I finally met the man who lives in that house, he offered me a tour — there was much more to his garden than I could see from the street. He showed me more flowers, shrubs, and vegetable plants. He said that he used to run a landscaping business, and now that he’s retired, he focuses on his own property. He’s careful to tell everyone that he doesn’t have a “yard.”
“There are prison yards, and there are school yards,” he said. “But this is a garden.”
A Garden Oasis
His word choice means a lot. A yard is a place where the grass grows and occasionally you do basic maintenance on it — you cut the grass, and if the grass is lucky, you might pull some weeds or give it some fertilizer. And then the grass grows until you reluctantly take the mower out again.
A garden, on the other hand, is designed, cultivated, and cared for. A gardener is intentional about what plants to include, when to plant them, how they should be pruned and how much water they need. A gardener spends time in the garden frequently and pays attention to how the plants are growing. Over time, the garden grows into an oasis.
As I listened to my neighbor talk about his garden, I couldn’t help but think about church callings.
Intentional Ministering Gardener
With any assignment we’re given in the Church, we can treat it like mowing a yard or tending a garden. The yard approach is about taking care of the bare minimum, if that. But in the garden approach, we set out intentionally and creatively. We are thoughtful about what we want our service to look like.
One of the easiest examples to see is home teaching versus ministering. For many people, home teaching was like mowing a yard — taking care of basic maintenance, doing the bare minimum. The shift to ministering invited us to care for one another in a “higher, holier way.” If you think of ministering like a garden, you might think, “OK, what do I want to plant in my ministering practice?” You decide what you want your ministering service to look like. Maybe it involves delivering cheesecake, inviting all your ministering families to a Christmas party, praying for each member of your ministering families at night, or texting a scripture once a week. The important thing is that you’ve made an intentional decision and acted on it.
Proactive Calling Gardener
Lately I’ve been trying this approach in my service as secretary in my elders quorum presidency. This is a calling that could easily be replaced by a couple of cheap technologies, so at first it did not feel meaningful. But several months ago, I had the impression that I should add a list of upcoming birthdays in our meeting agendas. More recently, I’ve decided I should make a note to be the one to call or text at least a few quorum members on their birthdays. That’s just one way that a proactive approach is making my calling more interesting and purposeful.
Are you called to teach a class? The “yard” approach is to show up and sort of read the manual aloud. The “garden” approach involves more study and preparation, thinking about questions and additional scriptures that would make the topic come to life for people; maybe you also decide to call class members during the week and ask them to prepare some thoughts to share.
If you want to become more like a gardener in your church calling, start by planning and brainstorming. Gardeners become familiar with what plants would look nice together and would grow well in their climate. In the same way, you can ask members of your ward how you can serve them. Or spend some time in the Leading Saints Community or “How I Lead” podcasts to see what ideas others have for that calling. Imagine that you are being released from this calling in two years. What would you like to see when you look back? Of course, you can ask yourself this repeatedly over time to continually discover how you can magnify your calling.
Service that Cultivates
This applies to anything you do in the Church. Have you been asked to speak? You can recycle an old Ensign article, or you could spend days prayerfully studying the topic while thinking about people in your ward and the challenges they may be facing, trying to find a way to teach that principle in a way that will uplift them.
Next, gardeners need tools and knowledge to keep up with their plants. In your calling, the tools you need might include information (such as the ward birthdays list or a regular report of new move-ins). It might include a regular opportunity to share a bit of information at the beginning of class meetings, or a direct line to the ward bulletin editor. Find out what would help you magnify your calling, and council with your leaders about those needs.
Third, just like gardeners take time to tend their gardens, make sure you schedule time to magnify your calling. Making the time — actually putting it on your calendar — is often the difference between wasted intentions and purposeful action.
My gardening neighbor watches the sun rise and set in his garden every day. While he’s there, he checks in on his plants and watches out for problems. Your calling might not require that much regularity and attention, but it does need time.
The Joy of Church Gardening
Considering how many gospel parables focus on agriculture, I think the Lord wants us to treat our church service more like gardening than the chore of trimming the grass.
Jesus told his apostles,
“I have chosen you and ordained you to go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16).
Back in my neighbor’s garden, he plucked a homegrown tomato for me, and moments later he called out to some neighbors who walked past and offered them some tomatoes too. By treating our church service like tending a garden, we will be able to pluck spiritual fruits that sustain us and that we can share with others. This fruit will include blessings for the people we serve, but it might also include inspiration for someone who sees us in that calling and decides to treat their calling more like a garden, too.
