Category: Ministry and Leadership

Are you thriving as a committed church volunteer? Churches are volunteer driven communities. Besides a small cadre of staff, churches are appropriately comprised of individuals who choose to come together to form a congregation.

There are those who are on the edge of congregational life, there are guests, and so on, but at the heart of every congregation is a core group of volunteers. These dedicated workers make the majority of a congregation’s ministries possible. (Thank God for them!) 🙏

These faithful folks serve on the board, teach Sunday school, lead the youth group, deliver meals to shut-ins, repair leaks, raise funds, sing in the choir, run power point slides, prepare the meals for funerals, and welcome the homeless.

Wait! There’s more, they also: manage the church’s finances, paint rooms, shovel snow, organize on behalf of justice causes, answer phones, teach classes, and much more.

These varied ways of service in our era reflect the teaching of the Apostle Paul from a past era:

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. ”

– 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.

4 Ways to Thrive When You’re a Committed Church Volunteer

1. Make Faith Your Foundation 🔑

Don’t get so caught up in the work of serving the Church that you neglect your faith. Tend to your worship life, your prayer life, and your own growth as a Christian. This also includes fellowship with other Christians, as well as periods of rest and renewal.

These practices should not regularly be set aside in favor of getting something done for the church (e.g. committee report, Sunday school lesson, etc.). The basics of the life of faith must come first.

Otherwise you are undermining your own faith and  acting contrary to the very purposes of the church which you are serving. If you neglect your faith, you may eventually wonder why you are serving at all.

😲Reality Check for Clergy and Staff: Are we setting good, not perfect, examples in this area? After our own faith, is our first focus the faith of our volunteers? Yes, serving helps all of us to practice our faith, but to sustain our service over the long hall requires regular spiritual nutrition: worship, prayer, fellowship, study, and rest.

 2. Make Healthy Communication a Priority 🔑

In congregations, communication sometimes go awry (I know this shocks most of you…). The announcement does not get in the bulletin. At the last minute there is a change in the part of the service you are to lead.

Another parishioner is angry about something in the church and wants you as a fellow volunteer to explain and resolve the situation. All families experience conflicts and miscommunications, including spiritual ones. These normal human happenings are opportunities for you to practice your faith, to love and to forgive.

Avoid gossip, triangulations, and complaining about others. If you have a concern, especially a serious one, bring it to the individual in question (Matthew 18:15-17). If someone is gossiping, redirect the conversation or refer them to the right person.

(Or you can refer them to my great-Uncle Seamus. He’s blind as a bat and deaf as a doorknob. Disclaimer: The Bible does not approve of this practice. Nor is what most of my great-Uncle says Scripturally approved either.)

😲Reality Check for Clergy and Staff: Again, are we setting the example here? Do we communicate regularly with the congregation as a whole as well as with individuals? Do we model healthy conflict resolution? This includes owning up to when we are wrong and apologizing when we’ve offended someone.

3. Minor in Duty, Major in Joy 🔑

Duty is sometimes required of us by our church family. These duties may not reflect your skills, gifting, or sense of calling, but they need to be done and so for the good of the congregation, you do them.

For example, taking out the trash after a funeral or serving for a season in a ministry that is not your cup of tea. These are opportunities to practice your faith and to grow in the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

However, strive to give the larger share of your energy to ministries and activities that bring you joy. Serving at your church should ordinarily be something you look forward to. Serving as a committed church volunteer should ordinarily give you a sense of satisfaction. It shouldn’t be something you dread.  

😲Reality Check for Clergy and Staff: When recruiting individuals do we rush to fill slots or are we making sure the person is a good fit? Do they have the time, energy, and interest to serve? Do we provide them with support? Are we, not perfect, but good examples of joy? Or do we appear to be all about duty?

(Ok I confess. I don’t actually have a great-Uncle. Sorry. You’ll actually have to refer to the person in question when dealing with conflicts or questions. )

4. Set Limits🔑

The need to set limits is obvious if you are going to make faith your foundation and if you are going to serve with joy. This means not taking on too much. If you are in worship related  ministries (e.g. praise band, worship leader, liturgical assistant, usher, etc.), make sure you have opportunities to just sit in the pew.

Occasions where you can sit with your friends and/or family and worship as a member of the congregation. When you agree to serve in any ministry make sure you understand the expected time commitment.

Also, at regular intervals pause and reassess whether you want to continue serving in a given ministry. You should give yourself permission to step out of one area of service and enter another.  

😲Reality Check for Clergy and Staff: We are often short on volunteers and always desperately in need of more leaders. Do we encourage our volunteers to set limits? Do we give them permission to say no? Are we modeling healthy boundaries and limitations in our own service to the Church?

Keep the Big Picture in Mind 🔍

            Finally, it is important to put serving at your local church within the bigger picture of your life. Your family, friends, job, finances, and free time are not secondary to your faith. In fact, these areas are the primary arenas for living out your faith, Dr. Scott Hahn, Biblical scholar, highlights this truth:

“Each of us is called to work as a priest who sanctifies the temporal order. Our altar is our desktop, our kitchen countertop, our laptop, our place in the assembly line, our diaper-changing table, our operating table. Our altar is the row we hoe. Through baptism, God has called us and empowered us to take the whole world and make it once again a sanctuary – and everything in it an offering.” 

– Many are Called

So, whether you are serving as a committed church volunteer, working at your job, spending time with your loved ones, or picking your nose👃. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, I mean typing that, not doing that, ew.) Remember the words of St. Paul.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

– Colossians 3:17

(If you serve at your local church or in some ministry, thank you. What you do is more important and impacts more people more than you realize. Bless your continued service.)

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These are exciting times to be a Christian. These are exciting times for the work of discipleship and formation. The seismic changes that have happened in recent decades have resulted in significant challenges for Christianity.

Challenges for world Christianity, but especially in the Western world. One of the fundamental challenges is the challenge of formation. In an increasingly secular world how do we pass on, build up, and educate ourselves and others in the faith? I am not primarily speaking about those outside the Church, but those within it.

There was a time when Christian faith was passed on almost through a process of cultural osmosis. A cultural sense of being Christian lingers in some places but is gone or on the way out in others.

This is exciting. Why? It gives us an opportunity to revisit tried and true methods of passing on and growing in the faith. It’s also exciting because it gives us an opportunity to experiment with new methods.

Ways to Practice Discipleship and Formation:  

1. Equip all to practice their faith at home.

The Shema, an ancient Jewish Prayer, from the Old Testament, states:  

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem^[ on your forehead,  and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

– Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NRSV)

These verses picture the teachings of faith as woven into the ordinary activities of life. Weaving faith into daily life is made stronger by weekly participation in a local congregation. It is not one or the other, it is both faith at home and faith together in community.

Families praying Grace at meals. Individuals displaying symbols and wearing symbols of faith. Roommates observing the Christian year at home . All of these are part of this weaving of faith into the ordinary joys and sorrows of life. In this way faith becomes part and parcel of life, not something separate from it.  

2. Encourage adults to share faith with the children in their lives.

We need to find ways to reach out to the increasing numbers of families who do not identify as Christian. Many do not identify with any historic Christian denomination or any faith at all. Before we do that or as we do, lets reach out to the children that are already in our lives.

This includes parents talking to their own children about faith. This sharing can and should also include grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, pastors, church members, and other caring adults. Children also benefit from hearing stories of faith from children older than themselves.  

Seeds of faith are planted, watered, and nurtured when caring adults share their faith with the children in their lives. This need not be long and drawn out. It does not need to be a formal lesson. It could be a simple as a grandparent praying a short blessing over their grandchild at the end of a phone call.

Another example would be church members sharing with kids how God and the people of God helped them during a tough time in their lives. It could be as simple as a godparent writing a note to their godchild on the anniversary of their baptism or confirmation.  

3. Engage people theologically with personal and public issues.

Most of our lives as followers of Jesus are spent outside the gathered community of the Church. Most of our lives are characterized by periods of stability and instability. Our lives include periods of achievement of crisis. Adults and older children need tools for thinking about and responding to life’s highs and lows.

They need perspectives on life’s challenges from the perspective of a thoughtful Christian faith. This includes care and compassion when people are in crisis. It should also include practical and theological education in a wide range of topics, from personal issues to public controversies.

For example, how have Christians understood suffering in the past? How should we approach suffering? What does our faith have to say about our work? What about poverty, climate change, race, sexuality, marriage, divorce, forgiveness, science, and war?

There are many faith-based resources on these and other topics. Christians are well served when their leaders and teachers give them the tools to think about various topics for themselves, using the tools of faith. This is in addition to sharing a range of Christian views on any given topic.

4. Elevate everyday discipleship for all.

Jesus’ invitation, first given to two sets of fisherman brothers, is given to you and me today by the power of the Holy Spirit:

 “Come, follow me”

– Matthew 4:19

These words are not for a special few, but an invitation to all. An invitation to a life of discipleship, a life of following Jesus. A long term commitment to allow God’s spirit to weave together all the varied parts of one person’s story into a beautiful, whole.

A whole life that God weaves together with countless other lives from the past, the present, and, the future.  A whole life brought together with all of life.

The Church sometimes give the impression that God is most concerned with mystics, preachers, and missionaries. God has used these kinds of disciples of Jesus in many ways. Yet, God is equally concerned with the plumber and the politician, as well as the ballerina and the businessman.

Elevating discipleship for all also means training all in the practices of discipleship: prayer, Bible reading, sabbath, spiritual friendship, service, giving, fasting, witness, and worship.

Discipleship and Formation: Beyond Programs

None of these ways requires formal Christian education programs, staff or large numbers of people (volunteers, children, or adults) to implement. A house church can implement these. A church with several hundred on a Sunday can implement these.

Your local church, whether small or large, can adopt and encourage these ideas and practices.  Many denominations, publishing houses, and ministry organizations provide an abundance of resources in all these areas.

The word formation is used by many teachers to emphasize that we are not only educating people about facts, but in cooperation with the Spirit are forming ourselves and others in a way of being human.

A way rooted in the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In a secular age how do we pass on and grow in this way of faith and love? We do so with God’s help in ways tried and true, in ways new and surprising, and in ways forgotten but restored. These are indeed exciting times.

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The pulpit. Your local church may have one, it may not. Those that preach in your local church may use the pulpit, they may not. Yet, the formal proclamation of the Christian faith, rooted in the Holy Scriptures, is a mainstay of most Christian congregations.

I use the word pulpit to distinguish the kind of preaching that happens during a service from other types of Christian proclamation that may happen outside of worship. 

There is a particular power to this kind of formal preaching. A power rooted in the Holy Spirit, the authority of the Scriptures, and the dynamics of a particular community of Christians gathering at a particular time for worship. 🙏

            Dr. Thomas Long, long time professor of preaching writes in one of his books,

            “God calls the whole church to proclaim the Gospel, and every disciple of Jesus Christ is a part of this calling. The whole church proclaims the gospel, and the preaching of sermons is but one part of this larger ministry.”

The Witness of Preaching

It is important to remember that preaching is one part of the Church’s larger ministry of proclaiming the mystery of God. Still, preaching can inspire, equip, and energize individuals and congregations in the way of Jesus. A way that can transform lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. 💨

Here are four ways to harness the power of the pulpit for consideration by listeners to sermons, preachers, as well as lay and ordained leaders of congregations.   

1. Take preaching seriously as an individual

Preaching is important not because of the preacher, but because of you. If you are part of a local congregation preaching is one of the most regular forms of instruction and inspiration you receive in the faith. Are you taking advantage of the sermon? Do you give it serious attention and consideration? Are you reflecting on it later that day or week?

Here are some ways for you as an individual to harness the power of preaching:

Read the Scriptures that will be preached ahead of time. This could be the night before or before the service begins. Strive to pay attention. Ask God to help you stick with the sermon even when the preacher does not hold your attention.

You may discover a truth about the faith, an insight into a Bible passage you would have missed had you not made the effort. Find opportunities to discuss the sermon with others. The discussion could be two sentences on the way to lunch. The discussion could be a lively conversation with your family at home.

⚡ Shocking Suggestion: Talk to the preacher about their sermon. (Wow. I know talking to a preacher. It will be ok. Try it!)

2. Take preaching seriously as a congregation.

As a congregation takes preaching more seriously, preaching will become more helpful to individuals.  If the proclamation of the Word of God is important then congregations will organize themselves in ways that highlight the importance of this ministry. Certainly, this is not the only ministry that should be highlighted but it should be one of them.

Here are some ways for your congregation to harness the power of preaching:

Post the assigned texts for a given sermon ahead of time. Point people to a webpage that lists the readings for the coming Sunday. Provide some instruction and discussion about sermons.

People are not always clear about the purpose of sermons or what they should be listening for or doing in response to them. If our congregations do not provide this sort of instruction then we are limiting the power sermons could have in our individual and collective lives.

⚡ Shocking Suggestion: Invite your congregation to respond to a sermon within the service itself. (This can work with smaller churches and larger churches.)

3. Allow your pastor to take preaching seriously

Parish pastors and preachers know they should take preaching seriously. A serious commitment to studying the Scriptures and proclaiming them are explicit in most vows of ordination. No doubt a small number of pastors choose not to take preaching seriously, yet two challenges confront even the most diligent of preachers. The challenges of time and encouragement.

Here are some ways to allow your pastor to harness the power of preaching:

Have an expectation as a congregation for a solid, thoughtful, and faithful pulpit ministry. Then support your pastor in taking significant time each week for prayer, study, and preparation. Give your pastor positive and constructive feedback.

Many preachers become discouraged because they deliver sermons week after week and receive little meaningful feedback. “Good sermon, Father,” is nice but not always meaningful. Also, allow others to preach occasionally so your pastor is not on every week. These breaks will improve their preaching.

⚡ Shocking Suggestion: Have a continuing education fund for sermon workshops, books and resources. (Also, encourage your pastor to use the fund!).

4. Take preaching seriously in candidates for ordination

Not every minister, priest, or pastor is gifted in preaching and teaching. Yet, every minister, priest, or pastor should have proficiency in preaching and teaching.

The knowledge and skills used in sermon preparation and delivery are used by all ministers, even if they are not regulars in the pulpit. A candidate’s potential as a preacher should be explored early in the ordination process.

Here are some ways to harness the power of preaching through ordination:

From the beginning of the process encourage potential ministers to develop their public speaking abilities. More opportunities for ministers in training to receive positive and constructive feedback about their sermons is essential.

Give sufficient time and attention to preaching in the curriculum, whether in an academic institution (e.g. seminary, theological college) or an alternative program (e.g. diocesan school of formation, local pastor program, etc.)

⚡ Shocking Suggestion: Encourage future pastors who are proficient but not gifted in preaching to allow others to regularly preach in their congregations, including developing an in-house preaching team. This will often mean well prepared lay preachers. (In fact, a team approach can benefit any congregation).

 The Dominican friar, Humbert of Romans, writing in the 13^th century, declared:

The sound of preaching must have as many different tones and variations as singing does.

Treatise on Preaching

May it be so in Jesus Name. May we by faith, with the gift of grace, harness the power of preaching as a symphony of praise to God. Let the Holy Spirit use our preaching as an orchestra of instruction and inspiration for ourselves and our congregations.

May the preaching from our pulpits sound through our lives, in word and deed, far beyond the doors of our churches, “to the ends of the earth.”

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These are exciting times to be laboring for a vital Christianity. The decades of social shifts in our societies continue to push the Church in the Western world to the sidelines. The sidelines of power, culture, and relevance.

How far down will depend on where we live and who we are. Some have been on the sidelines a long time, but increasingly that is where all of us will find ourselves as followers of Jesus.

Christianity in the West: Moving to the Sidelines

Christian influence is still visible in our countries and will continue to be, albeit in less familiar ways. Large numbers of people today see Christianity as part of our society’s past and not something with mainstream value for the present.

Where we still have influence, and we still have much, we should use it wisely with an eye toward the future.

The biggest opportunities before us lie in embracing our new location on the sidelines. The Church began on the sidelines over 2000 years ago. This is familiar territory to our ancestors in the faith as well as many of our fellow Christians today.

This is an opportunity for everyday Christians, congregational leaders, as well as for bishops and other denominational officials.

5 Ways to Meet the Challenge of Vital Christianity

1. Make spirituality, formation, and discipleship central to all we do.

In a secular age people of all ages will need more, not less formation in the faith to persist in faith. Adults with a vibrant faith will lead to children with a vibrant faith. Faith formation must become central in every church.

Our goal being to invite people into a faith that weaves into their everyday lives. In a secular age helping adults develop a thoughtful understanding of their faith is key.

This means our churches must be more than communities of lowest common denominator niceness or barely baptized versions of political ideologies, left or right. We have 2000 years of spiritual riches to draw from and to invite people to experience.

People are interested in spirituality today, but most of them do not perceive the Christian Church as a place of deep spirituality. Let’s change that.

This is exciting because it means we can major on what we have to offer the world. Encounter with God . A community, a family, sustained by the Spirit. A Gospel anchored in the life and teachings, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2. Do not assume that social justice and outreach will be our salvation.

In a secular age people will be glad when the Church does good in the community. They will be glad when the church joins them in advocating for a particular cause. If the Church lacks a vibrant inner life, those attracted by our outreach may applaud our involvement but never get involved with us.

The work of justice must be complemented by vital prayer, spirituality, fellowship, worship, and teaching.

In most of our communities there are many secular organizations that individuals, couples, or families can get involved with that are meeting human needs or addressing matters of justice. We need to partner, as appropriate, with these organizations, while offering people something these organizations do not.

This is exciting because it frees us to engage in outreach and social justice in distinctively Christian ways. Knowing that we have a unique contribution to make as much as by who we are as people of faith, as by what we do and how we do it.

3. We exist for the purpose of serving those around us.

We often conduct ourselves as if our primary purpose is ourselves and only secondarily others. In a secular age if we intend to survive and thrive as the people of God we must embrace with an enthusiasm of time, talent, and treasure Jesus own words about himself,

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.”

Mark 10:45

This means our churches serving the needs of our local communities. It means the Church, often through joint efforts of many congregations, putting hands and feet to work for justice.

This means giving at least equal weight to the preferences of those we are trying to reach (and having some idea of who those people are) in terms of how we organize our worship services, programs, and buildings.

This is exciting because as we focus on how we can serve others in Jesus name’ our own faith and that of others is energized, resources unleashed, and our tendency to major in minors, gives ways to concerns about how we can love our neighbors.

4. We labor for a Church larger than our congregation and denomination

Our cultural landscapes vary from Western country to Western country and from region to region within our countries. Yet, as Christians and Christian communities we face many of the same challenges and opportunities. Most importantly, despite our disagreements, we are

“the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

1 Corinthians 12:27

This means we should learn from each other. Learn from others successes, failures, and experiments. Learn from others experiences of being God’s people from the sidelines of our society.

There are best practices we can learn from one another. Tested ideas for nurturing the faith of our children , serving the needs of our neighbors, and bringing new life to struggling congregations.

This is exciting because however small or large our part of the Body of Christ may be we know we are part of something bigger. We have sisters and brothers facing the same challenges that we can celebrate with, serve with, and pray with.

5. Proactively reshape our institutions for mission from the sidelines.

We’ve inherited structures that were designed for a Church closer to the center of society. A Church that was richer in financial resources and people. In a secular age we need to ask if the ways we are organizing ourselves are serving us well as the people of God.

We need  to embrace a variety of structures, from traditional churches with buildings and staff, to house churches with no buildings or staff.

The model of a full-time staff pastor serving one church will continue, but is just one option among many for a large minority of churches, but not THE model for all churches. This has implications for the development and deployment of lay and ordained ministers.

This is exciting because our task is to retrieve ways of being the Church from the past that might meet our present needs. As well as to preserve the best of the present, while innovating faithfully as guided by the Holy Spirit in order to be vital churches visibly serving our local communities.

Vital Christianity in the West: An Exciting Time

These are challenging and exciting times to be a Christian. The biggest opportunities before us lie in embracing our new location on the sidelines. The Church has been on the sidelines of society before.

In fact, it began there and from that location flourished under the most difficult of circumstances. This is our heritage. A reason to labor in hope for a vital Christianity and a vital Church in the West. 

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