Have you heard about the Helicopter Church – the one where there is a danger that as soon as you get close enough you will get sucked up into the rotas!
I remember years ago preaching at HMS Raliegh in Plymouth.
One of the comments made by an Officer stuck with me. He said they liked to get
new recruits out of their civvies and into uniform as quickly as possible. This
helped cement the idea that they now belonged to the Navy, they were on the
team, and that came with a raft of expectancies.
And we are back with the dilemma of paid and volunteers I
have reflected on before.
On Saturday last I attended a lovely Service at Coventry
Cathedral. The core of the Service was the Licensing of Readers and the giving
of PTO (Permission to Officiate) licenses to current Readers to authorise their
ongoing ministries – as volunteers!
This year this Service was broadened and an invitation was given to all Churches in the Diocese of Coventry to nominate a ‘lay person’ who had given notable service over the past year. These people were also called out by name and invited to give themselves afresh to the various ministries to which God had called them. Those ministries were also read out and it was a long list, a very long list, but very exciting and encouraging to note the breadth of ministires being exercised.
In addition to this we also
had some who had taken part in a training course (or courses) run by the
Diocese called, Pathways for Lay Ministry. (See below for link)
There was much rejoicing and clapping at the willingness of
so many people to give so much, often sacrificially.
Michael Quoist in his book
‘The Christian Response’ wrote…
‘You are a unique and
irreplaceable actor in the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of
you to make known his salvific work in this particular place and at this
particular moment in history.”
Likening the Church to battleship presents some
difficulties. However, it does help us to remember that the Church is not a Cruise
Liner on which we can relax and be served and entertained by a hard-working
crew. “O, you know what, I didn’t get anything
out of the Service this morning, and those songs, don’t even get me started…”
In a consumer culture we can very quickly become consumer
Christians and spend time searching around for the ‘Church Cruise Ship’ that
does it the way we like it done.
Now, on a battleship there will be three main groups.
Seasoned sailors operating as a team towards a common goal and purpose, there
will be recruits who are in various stages of learning the ropes and there will
be some in sick bay.
It can be a valuable exercise to reflect on our Church
community and ask how many people are in each of those groups.
It can also be interesting to ask, ‘how quickly should we
invite people to become involved in the ‘ministry’ of the Faith Community.’
(Invite is a key word here)
On Saturday we heard of ‘ministries’ that engaged with the
wider community, care for the elderly, those with dementia, etc. For example,
for my own part, I volunteer with Riding for the Disabled, The Farming Community
Network, and Prison Fellowship, all of which minister outside of what we might
consider ‘Church.’
That needs to be recognized as well, the life and witness
of the Church goes well beyond the confines of any building, or at least it ought
to if it is being true to its God giving calling.
Then finally, returning to the quote from Michaelle Quoist above that presents us with a personal challenge.
And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.…
Ephesians
4.11-13
Could it be
that if you are not playing your part, you are playing apart.
And here is an idea with Harvest Celebrations coming up. Instead of, or alongside, why not celebrate a ‘Harvest of Gifts’ amongst your Faith Community. I.e. what gifts, skills and talents do your people have? You might invite them to bring something that symbolises their gift, talent or skill and offer it as a gift to God. These ‘gifts’ are offered to God with prayers of blessing and then people are invited to pick up their offering recognising that all things come from God and that their gifts, talents and skills are now to be used for God's plans and purposes.
(Early in the New Year (Epiphany) is also a good time for such a ‘Service of Gifts.’)
In short it
comes down to a simple question I invite you to ask of yourself as you go through
the week ahead, ‘just what am I doing for God’s sake?’
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