Usually around this time of year we have our nominating committee meeting where we look for new people to serve in positions of leadership. The way we find those people is by observing their attendance, character, and service over the past year. One of the unintended consequences of the church shutdown has been a loss of service. So many areas where people have normally served have been shut down and so our people haven’t had the opportunities to serve as normal.
Since service is part of the normal life pattern of a Christian, I thought we should emphasize service this month by seeing where you might be able to serve, if you are not already serving. Our worship team and sound team have been hard at work and we are grateful for their service but there are other opportunities as well, even if you are not comfortable being around crowds of people. Here are some of the traditional and non-traditional areas where you could serve.
First, we need servants for children’s church and nursery. Our Sunday School program is still on hold for the time being, but as we begin to resume normal operations, ministering to parents and children is key. If you would be comfortable wearing a mask and serving in children’s ministries, the opportunities are there.
Second, servants would be good for youth ministry. Pastor Spencer sees 10-15 students faithfully attending youth group every Wednesday. Right now he is the only adult presence there. We could use 1 or 2 people there to assist him in the youth ministry.
Third, we need servants for coffee fellowship. We don’t actually serve coffee per se, but we do put out individually wrapped snacks and drinks each Sunday. You could help purchase those items or you could just set them out so that they are ready for the end of the service. Even if you don’t feel comfortable being around crowds yet, you could set up the snacks for coffee fellowship Saturday night or early Sunday morning before anyone is here and it would be appreciated.
Fourth, we need people willing to reach out. If you are gifted with the spiritual gift of encouragement or just have the gift of gab, we could use you! Put out a phone call to someone in the church once a week just to see how they are doing and encourage them. Imagine if we had 10 people doing that every week, everyone would be encouraged a lot. Even if a phone call is too intrusive for you, send a note or a card and let people know you are thinking of them.
Fifth, we need pray-ers. That means people who will pray. We used to have a prayer group that met every Wednesday and some feel intimidated praying in front of others, so they wouldn’t come. But maybe in the privacy of your own home you could be one of our prayer warriors. Nobody else is around and if you could lift the church up in prayer that would be so helpful. That was always the Apostle Paul’s #1 desire, to have people praying for him and the church, and I would echo that sentiment.
Sixth, we need help with the facility. There are always bushes that need to be trimmed, cobwebs that need to be removed, windows that need to be cleaned, and dust that needs to be…dusted. Even more so now with the church being closed for so long, we don’t want to get too far behind on all the upkeep here at the facility.
Seventh, we need help with a stronger online presence. That means if you are on Facebook, comment on our posts, start a watch party, or share one of the links of our services so we can reach as many people as possible. The technology is there we just have to maximize its use.
Would you serve? There are many ways that you can. Please don’t feel that in order to serve you must be in close contact with others in a group. Let us know if you feel the burden to serve in one of these areas and let’s continue the ministry of Congregational Bible Church!