Too often people
particularly those who are new to attending church walk
in the door with the thought that the only help needed in
a church are a pastor to preach to the flock and a choir
to sing in front of everyone. Right up front let me tell
you that no matter how large or small no matter what the
religion, denomination, or history of a church there is
much more involved.
In some way every member of a church can help in some
form or another. Of course if your intention is to be
merely a as I like to put it ‘pew setter’ that’s
fine but that is a shame because not only are you missing
out on the opportunity to contribute in some way but also
there is more than likely someone who could gain from
your help.
It is very common in many smaller churches particularly
to find a very small group of people doing everything and
a larger group ‘pew sitting’. Besides the
pastor and choir what about the Sunday school teachers,
the greeters, the cleaners or maintenance people? Lets
not leave out those bulletins that need written,
published, and distributed, the tasks of keeping records
or track of church member’s, addresses, phone
numbers, and these days e-mail addresses.
There are many more jobs or areas where help is needed in
a church, any church. Of course a pianist and or organist
are nice but then many churches are going contemporary
and adding guitars, drums, and more. If that’s not
where your talent lies what about that parking lot that
needs snow plowed or the sidewalks shoveled, leave that
need raked or flower beds planted and cared for.
If you drive to church is your vehicle full or do you
have an empty seat or two? How about picking up the
elderly lady that lives just down the road from you or
the two young kids whose single mother has to work Sunday
morning? You may even consider seeing if the church would
like to start a Sunday school bus or if they already have
one maybe the gentleman who drives would like a day off
now and then.
One of the most important things to consider when
thinking about how you can help at church is to look at
yourself and spot some of your talents or pleasures that
you could use to help in some way. Doing something that
you just absolutely don’t enjoy or are horrible at
will not help you to help the church with a joyous heart.
Anything you do for the Lord you should do with joy and
before you say no to a helpful task or duty you might
give it a try.
A little personal story here: I was terrified at the
thought of being a greeter at my church but I truly
wanted to get involved and do something. Please
understand I’m very nervous meeting people, my hands
sweat horribly when I’m nervous so avoid shaking
hands with people. 4 years later when I moved away one of
the things I missed most of all was greeting people at
our early service every Sunday morning.
Another helpful thing I did grew from my talent for
writing. A couple of the ladies who were leaders of the
women’s group at our church decided it would be nice
to have a newsletter about and for the women’s
group. The newsletter would be for attending members,
ladies who couldn’t be at every meeting, and also to
use as a witnessing tool. These same ladies found out I
was a writer and approached me with their idea. I was
given free rain whatever I decided to do would be fine
– I did that for 3 years: writer, editor, and
printer.
Maybe you could start or help with collecting goods for
missionaries or even organize fund raising activities to
support a missionary family. Another area our church
really shines is the ‘Men in Action’. These men
meet weekly for prayer and bible study but go far beyond
that. These men have helped people move, put on dinners
for an entire trailer park (grilled hot dogs, chips, and
soda pop but the kids and their families loved it). They
have also gone into homes and done major repairs such as
replacing missing doors, fixing windows, and just all
around made a difficult place to live a nice home.
Several times the women’s group and the men’s
group joined efforts helping people move from one home to
another. The ladies would go in help with packing things
as well as transporting things like house plants then the
men came in with trucks and muscles and moved the boxes
and furniture. Helping at church doesn’t always mean
within the walls of the church building or even on church
property.
If you are thinking about or would like to help around
the church all you really need to do is look for a need
and offer yourself. Helping at church is helping to do
the Lord’s work, can help you grow within, and can
in many ways help others around you whether you know them
or not. Don’t be afraid you aren’t good enough
or don’t have any talent we were each given
different talents now it’s our job to use them.
