For by the grace given to me I big everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them; if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:3-8
There are many roles in the church, some of which are seen and many of which are not seen. The most obvious is the priest, who is assigned to a parish and is compensated by the parish as his ministry is also his vocation. Most parishes pay at least some support staff—in our parish we have a ministry coordinator, an administrative assistant, a bookkeeper and a custodian who are employed full time. We also have a part-time choir director and organist, and we are blessed with a retired priest who works on a part-time basis. We are also a parish of 400 families. Churches of our size from other denominations would probably employ a full-time staff of 10 people, but that is a commentary for another day.
In addition to the full-time staff, there are dozens of people who volunteer in a role for the church. There are eleven people on our Parish Council, another twenty who teach Sunday school, a team of ushers, youth advisors, choir members and many other roles. Forty of our young men serve in the altar on a rotating basis. Philoptochos, dance group leaders, community outreach chairperson, buildings and grounds, altar angels (people who clean the church), finance committee, nursing ministry, stewardship, young adults and young at heart (seniors) are all ministries that are headed by volunteers. Every time the parish has an event, like a dance or a Greek Festival, volunteers are needed to step forward to help organize and execute the event.
Despite having all of these ministries and over 1,200 hundred parishioners who partake in many of them, we never seem to have enough volunteers. We are always looking for more.
Every person has at least one talent, something they can use for the betterment of the world. And every person has at least one talent that can be offered to the Church in order to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You might ask, can every talent actually be used to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I guess there are a few that can’t, like if a person has a talent for forging documents, or something like that. However, let’s take a talent like baking. You might wonder what does baking have to do with spreading the Gospel? We have baking days in our parish around the Greek Festival and before other events of the year. Both women and men put out some tables in our community center, roll cookies, talk, laugh, have lunch. It’s a relaxing time. That’s important. One very important thing that happens in a church community is fellowship. People get to know one another. And when people get to know one another, they can serve one another, they can look after one another, they can encourage one another, keep tabs on one another and most important, pray for one another. All of these things combined help move forward the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When people know each other, and someone from the group is missing, when the others call to invite them back, some of these call become material in a person finding salvation. There was a man in my community many years ago who came to Bible study. I got to know him in Bible study, because there were a handful of people attending and it was easier to get to know him on a Monday night than on a crowded Sunday morning. When he missed Bible study for a month, I contacted him to invite him back to church. He said my email check-in was the key to him coming back. And that wouldn’t have happened had he not been involved in a ministry. I’m not sharing this story to toot my own horn. There are lots of examples of people involved in leading a ministry who have helped others come closer to Christ. New people who have joined our parish give more credit to our welcome ministry team of greeters than they do to anything else—not our choir, not my sermons—they came back because they were personally welcomed, and by a volunteer at that! We can’t underestimate the opportunity each of us has to be a material piece in someone else’s spiritual journey.
St. Paul’s letter to the Roman’s, which is the scripture verses for this reflection, remind us that each of us is called to play a different role in the church. In Romans 12:4, he writes “for as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function.” He goes on to name some of these functions—prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contribution, aid, and mercy. I suppose that if we put a modern understanding of these ideas, you might call them writing, service, teaching, marketing, philanthropy, aid and outreach. And as we have already discussed, other roles include singing, organizing, baking, teaching, logistical help, and many more. The Presbyterian church where our son attended pre-school had a sewing ministry. Women met on Wednesday evenings to sew quilts and blankets that were then donated to local hospitals and homeless shelters. These are women who loved to sew and to have fellowship and they created this ministry. The opportunities for ministries are endless.
It is important to note that for many people, there is a temptation to just be a “consumer” when it comes to ministry. Most parents who have students in Sunday school are not teachers, but are appreciative for the work of those who teach.. Most people do not sing in the choir, but they enjoy a good choir. Most people do not teach a Bible study, but many enjoy attending one. What we ALL need to be cognizant of is also becoming “producers” of ministry, people who not only enjoy receiving something but who work to help produce the ministries. There are ample opportunities to consume ministry. Each of us needs to be involved in the production of at least one ministry.
Lord, thank You for the talents You have given me (list some). Help me to use my gifts not only for the benefit of my family in providing sustenance for them, but to use them to serve the world, and specifically to serve in Your Church. Help me to find a way to not only partake in ministry, but to help produce ministry, and in so doing, to advance the Gospel and bring others to You. Amen.
We all have at least one talent that can be used to produce ministry and to lead others to Christ. We need to see how what we have matches with the needs of our community. And if there isn’t a match or a need, we need to discuss the possibility of creating new ministries, so that everyone is involved in producing something that spread the Gospel and grows the Church.
