Every weekend is special at church because we gather to worship the Lord, hear the Good News, and receive our Savior in Holy Communion. But beyond what we receive at church what we give back is also a defining feature of our community.
If you have ever spent even a little time around Nativity, you know we have a lot of volunteers, we call them member ministers. That was not always the case. When I first came here, the parish was always desperate for volunteers. Most critical was the need for volunteer staffing for the religious ed program. And it seemed like every fall at every Mass we would try and shame people into stepping forward. One priest here was really good at it. “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!” he’d shout from the pulpit (great message, to bad no one was listening). A lot of churches don’t have the ministers they need because they rely on a strategy of guilt and a message of neediness. Guilt and need only work short term, their effectiveness wears off quickly.
We have a lot of member ministers. And we talk a lot about members getting into ministry. The two go together: if you’re a pastor, consistently, and mostly cheerfully preaching the outcomes you’re looking for, and clearly linking those outcomes to discipleship, will bring you those outcomes. We want members (and regulars) to be ministers and hundreds of them have answered that call. But currently we’re undertaking a whole new drive for new ministers. That’s because our goal is simply, every member a minister! Why? Because consumers consume but disciples serve, and disciples serving together form a grace filled environment.
Member ministers serve the parish and our parish staff and ministry leaders serve them. Our ministry leaders work hard to make sure that ministry is accessible and sustainable, usually ministers work no more than a few hours a month, in very clearly defined jobs. We try to make sure people are matched to their jobs and serve on teams. We want our ministers to succeed, so we try and give them the right resources and tools they need, as well as clear directions and leadership. We aspire to honor their service and acknowledge them in appropriate ways. I think our Ministry teams, under the leadership of Lori Cuomo, do a great job of calling forth and making the best use of our ministers to serve our growing parish. They do an even better job of helping grow the ministers themselves into disciples who are learning more about loving the Lord through their service.
We don’t want members getting into ministry because of guilt, or even because we need their help…though we would welcome more help in many of our ministries. We want our members serving because it’s an extension of grace, and we want to be a community of grace.
To review our ministries or to sign up to serve go to our web site: here. If you’re not a member of Nativity, why not take this opportunity to learn more about serving in your own parish?
