Ministry Monday - Church Ministry

To recap from my first Ministry Monday Post... over the next few week I am going to be posting about various ministries that I have been apart of. The ministry that I have poured most of my life into has been the local church. Since twelve years of age I have held volunteer positions at five different churches. It seem that I have always been able to find a place to plug in and get dirty for Jesus. With changes in my age, my knowledge and the needs of the different churches, I have served under different titles and had various jobs and responsibilities.

The first church job I had was Sound Technician, when I was 12 yrs. old. Gary, one of the deacons and my Sunday School teacher, ran the sound system for each service. I'm really not sure why, but I was so captivated by this behind the scenes job. At first, I was a mere observer, but as I learned from him, he began to allow me to take part in pre-service work such as checking mics and stage set up. Finally, one day, Gary said, "OK, it's all yours." I asked him why he was willing to step away from such an important position... his reply, "I've always wanted to sing in the choir, and now I can."

By the time I was fifteen this same church purchased a van. A deacon named Roy was in charge of finding drivers and drafting a route, and he felt that since I knew where the kids lived in the neighborhood, I would make a great Assistant Van Director. An easy job... all I had to do is get parent's names and contact info for each child and check seat belts before we drove to the next stop. Once I became more familiar with the routes and our riders, Roy suggested that I be given the full title and he would be my assistant. I always thought that this was so funny. I did not even have a drivers license yet, and I was the Van Director.

I am going to interrupt myself here and bring some honesty to you. You may think, wow two church jobs before he was even old enough to work in a regular job... this kid is spiritually squared away. Unfortunately this was the front that I put on, but it was not close to the truth. I was "saved" when I was twelve but I really did not care about church. I was brought up in the church and that's all I knew. I would go when I felt like it, but when I was put in charge of the sound, I was there for every service. Then, that got old. I realized that the service would go on without me, and once again I became hit or miss in my attendance. Then, I had another important job on the van. As it ran its course, I ended up in the same place. The thing that finally broke this chain for me was a youth rally where my faith was made real. At this point, working in the church was no longer about feeling good about what I could do or how needed I was. Ministry in the local church became a privilege to me, something I could do to show God appreciation for his blessings.

One of our youth leaders named Earl a guitarist, pianist, drummer and more, saw this change in me and offered to teach me how to play the drums. Together with some other students, we formed a worship band. I was officially a Praise Band Drummer. Since that first drum lesson, I have played in two youth bands and played for three churches in their regular weekly services.

In high school, I felt God leading me to start an after school bible study. (THIS IS A STORY FOR ANOTHER POST), but as I stood before my peers leading them in reading and interpreting God's word, I realized my calling to be a preacher. I grew in age and was technically no longer a youth, so I became a Youth Volunteer. Knowing that it was in my youth, grades 6-12 , when I truly met God and acknowledged his calling on my life, I decided to go into youth ministry. I served as an Assistant Youth Director under my wife for about two years. We felt God pulling us away from that church, and at the same time, King's Queen was feeling that God's calling in her life was shifting in a new direction. Almost two years later, she was hired as a worship leader, and that same church has called me as their Student Minister as well.

These are the titles and positions that I have held in the local church. What started as "Look what I can do" turned into "Look what God can do through me." This was a hard lesson to learn, but one that I know pleases God. He is happy that I finally got the memo!

Time and time again, we find Jesus reaching out and helping those who were where He was at the same time that He was there. He even looked us in the face and said, "What you do to the least of these you do to me." We live in our community and attend our church not to warm the pew or chair, but to be the hands and feet of Christ. The community has a need, and the church has a responsibility to meet that need. However, unless you and I are willing to plug in and get dirty for Jesus within our local church, the need will never be met. It is not the job of your Pastor, Worship Leader, Student Minister, Van Director, or drummer to find a place for you to help in the ministry of the local church... It's your job! This week, find a vacancy at your church and fill it. It's time to be about the Fathers Business.