If you’re like my wife and I, there are events on your family calendar to which you have committed. It includes date nights, birthday parties, weddings, etc. Personally, while I see the value of these planned events, I appreciate a calendar that isn’t overwhelmingly full and has capacity for down time. This capacity creates space for spontaneity.

One of my favorite events are ones that never appear on my calendar. I LOVE IT when someone will text and say, “Do you guys want to meet tonight at ______?” What are you doing in the next couple of hours? Do you want to meet our family for yogurt? I find spontaneous events to be natural, fun, and low stress.

I recently heard that term spontaneous in a different context — spontaneous ministry, and it has had me thinking. Some of the most natural, fun, and low stress ministry opportunities are those that happen naturally. You don’t plan them for months. You don’t put them on your calendar in the ever-decreasing white space of time. Rather, they just “happen.” In my experience, there are two things that I think are critical to engage in spontaneous ministry — capacity and care.

Capacity. If your time is so full of events and non-spontaneous ministry opportunities, you lack capacity for spontaneous ministry opportunities. This requires saying “no” to more things so that there is room to say “yes” to the right things.

Care. Spontaneous ministry happens when you’re aware of those in need around you. You can’t live a self-centered life and expect to enter into spontaneous ministry. This requires walking through life with a heart open for opportunities.

As you look at your own ministry life, is it full of planned programs or do you have capacity for spontaneity?