With God's Hope~Our Journey Continues...

Since my wife and I both work in full time ministry in two different parishes, we have lots of conversations about church life. Lucky us! In one of our recent conversations, we both agreed that one of the things we’d love to change is the language we use in our churches about “volunteers”. If a congregation is one expression of the larger Body of Christ, then giving time to the life of your congregation is not about volunteering – it’s about participating.

This difference may seem subtle, but it’s incredibly significant. Think about it. One definition of “volunteer” in the dictionary is as “one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest.” One usually volunteers for an organization. While you may believe in the organization’s goals or cause, there’s still some distance between you and the organization. You can easily volunteer for an organization without having a vested interest, without really being part of it, without really belonging.

Too often we think of the church as an organization, and on one level, it is. However, at its core, the church is not an organization – it’s a community. Better said, the church is a family. One does not volunteer for one’s family –one participates in it!

We have entered into our new worship space. We’ll do so not as an organization, but as a family. As family, there will be plenty of opportunities – new and old – to help out, especially as our new space continues to deepen and broaden our vision for mission and ministry together. What we need in this new chapter of our life together is not more volunteers – we need participants! As participants, we have a vested interest in our life together because we realize we belong here. In this family, everyone’s gifts are valued and necessary!

The next time you see a need expressed in our church, I hope you’ll consider not volunteering, but participating. You can be sure the rest of the family will appreciate you sharing your gifts!

God's Peace!
Pastor Jim