Service Inreach Opportunities
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, NRSV)
God has gifted each of us with unique gifts and talents. The beauty of these gifts and talents shines when all of them come together as One. Liturgical ministries give us good training to prayerfully understand how to do just that. We learn how to serve God and God’s people and not ourselves during worship. People of all ages learn leadership responsibilities and teamwork through Acolytes ministries; the Altar Guild faithfully ensures the beauty of worship experiences like Mary and Martha, Greeters and Ushers welcome and guide people like a shepherd leading a flock; Lectors and Prayer leaders read the Scripture and lead us in prayers like God speaks to and hear us; Choirs demonstrate how many voices could come together and create a beautiful harmony.
Caring for the sacred ground takes time, talent, and treasure. As the words in the hymn express it best, the foundation of our faith is strengthened through this invaluable ministry.
“How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
In ev’ry condition, in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth,
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea —
The Lord, the Almighty, your strength e’er shall be.
Fear not, I am with you. Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
For I will be with you your troubles to bless
And sanctify to you your deepest distress.
Throughout all their lifetime my people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love,
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still on my shoulders be borne.”
K. in John Rippon’s Selection, 1787, alt.